FEBRUARY: MATTHEW 6-7
Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with the admonition “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) In contrast, when the risen Lord came to the Nephites 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) If Christ, who was without sin, was not perfect until after mortality then we also can accept that this is a goal to work towards and not a commandment to be achieved in mortality.
In Jeffrey R. Holland’s address “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually,” he said, “I believe that Jesus did not intend His sermon on this subject to be a verbal hammer for battering us about our shortcomings… He intended it to be a tribute to who and what God is and what we can achieve with Him in eternity.” In Moroni 10:32 we are told, “Come unto Christ and be perfected in him and deny yourselves of all godliness… love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.”
Pres. Nelson taught that the Greek form of perfect is “teleios” which means “to reach a distant end or be fully developed.” So, as we grow a relationship with Jesus through consistent prayer, seeking a greater portion of the Spirit, reading the scriptures consistently, making and keeping sacred covenants, and serving those in need, we are becoming closer to Him.
Living like this, “after the manner of happiness,” (2 Nephi 5:27) is living on the pathway to perfection.
Women Read Scripture 