Perfection

Today I was listening to this talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, one of the twelve apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It touched my heart so deeply. I wanted to share it with you. I find it so uplifting and inspiring.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"May I remind all of us that we live in a fallen world and for now we are a fallen people.... As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, here in mortality perfection is still “pending.”'


 "In any case, I am grateful to know that in spite of my imperfections, at least God is perfect—that at least He is, for example, able to love His enemies, because too often, due to the “natural man”⁶ and woman in us, you and I are sometimes that enemy. How grateful I am that at least God can bless those who despitefully use Him because, without wanting or intending to do so, we all despitefully use Him sometimes. I am grateful that God is merciful and a peacemaker because I need mercy and the world needs peace. "

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him … ,” Moroni pleads. “Love God with all your might, mind and strength, then … by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.”⁹ Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven—we can’t “earn” it. Thus, the grace of Christ offers us not only salvation from sorrow and sin and death but also salvation from our own persistent self-criticism."


"Brothers and sisters, every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human."

Please take time to listen to his take on the parable of the forgiven talents. I had never before fully comprehended the significance of that story.

Also, if you are unfamiliar with the song "I'm trying to be like Jesus", here is a link. When I am at church on Sunday surrounded by a room full of sweet children singing this song, I can't help but tear up. I love the message so much.