Not The Fulness at First

I think that many misconstrue the principal that Christ taught concerning perfection. Too often we look like this lady to the left. To be perfect, as the Lord commands us, can seem overwhelming at best. The impetus for this post is to unveil the truth of His directive (to become perfect), especially to my fellow harsh self-critics.

First, if we are to become perfect, we should naturally be interested in observing the road of one who has reached perfection: Christ. Luckily, Joseph Smith received a powerful revelation concerning the progression of the Savior. Doctrine & Covenants Section 93 teaches "And he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fullness at the first." (D&C 93:13-14)

The Lord learned "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30) until he reached the fullness of knowledge, light, and truth. I find it interesting that in the New Testament, Christ gave the directive to "be ye therefore perfect even as my Father which is in heaven is perfect "(Matthew 5:48). In contrast, as the Savior visited his followers on this continent he said, "therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." (3 Nephi 12:48)

He did not add himself to the equation of perfection until after his resurrection, after mortality. Though Christ never sinned, not even once, he did not reach "the fullness" of light and truth in this life. The point is, even with a flawless track record, we will not reach the fullness of perfect in mortality. Spelling out this principle is not an attempt to induce mediocrity or a sort of asceticism but to increase hope and bring perspective to the loving commandment to become perfect. Stop and ponder how much the Savior loves, trusts and sees in you if he gives us such a commandment.