Perfection, is it possible? Is it just something we will bang our head on if we try to attain? Does God expect perfection of us?
I can only tell you how I feel, my thoughts on perfection.
When this topic is discussed, of course the passage in Matthew 5:48 comes up. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." And, the rejoinder is always that the footnotes in the LDS edition say "perfect" means "complete, finished."
For me, and what the Lord is asking of me, I am comfortable with being asked to become -- by the time I leave this life -- a sinless man. I do not know whether I will reach that point, but hope to, and am striving to.
To me, if the Savior is my example, what was He an example of? He was sinless. There would be thousands of people, at very least, who could be examples of being just good. He wasn't an example of being just good. He was an example of perfection.
And, to me, He is the evidence that perfection is possible, that it can be achieved. That He came to earth and lived a perfect life is proof that it is possible. We cannot say it cannot be done, for Someone has done it. His example shows it can be done. Now, I will not be perfect from start to finish, as He was. But, I can attain perfection. By life's end, I can be living a perfect, sinless life.
Yes, I believe that. Christ set the example, showed me the way, and told me to live the commandments. If His being our example is to mean anything, it seems to me that is what it would be: that sinlessness is possible. I do not find this a burdensome thought. I find it wonderful to think I can become -- eventually and at some point in my life -- a sinless person.
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