“The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives;
“It also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better.” – Elder David A. Bednar
Elder Bednar echoes what Moroni ends with so perfectly.
In order to become perfected in Christ, we have to deny ourselves of all ungodliness.
We need to repent and turn away from sin.
Work on overcoming weakness and stand strong against temptation.
But just staying clean isn’t going to get us to “perfection”.
We then have to love God with all our might, mind, and strength.
We have to get up and do good things.
We have to serve, to listen to promptings, to love each other.
Our hearts have to change.
And that’s how we become perfect.
Personally, I feel like my focus changes all the time.
Some days, I’m working on getting rid of sin.
And other days, I’m working to do good with a willing and loving heart.
And being perfected in Christ requires both.
I know we talk about how we can’t become perfect here on earth.
But I do believe that we can become more and more perfected every day.
It’s just about keeping both parts of the equation in mind:
Getting rid of the bad.
And coming to Christ with the good.
And once we show that we can do this in small increments, our Savior shares His grace to slowly make us more and more like Him.
To perfect ourselves in Christ.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
