The Bond of Perfectness

In 3 Nephi 12:48, Christ echoes his commandment from Matthew 5:48 and says, "I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."

Perfect? How in the world can I be perfect? The apostles echoed this sentiment in Mark 10:26, right after the Lord had given a series of strict commandments. They were described as "astonished," asking, "Who then can be saved?"

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, "This feeling of inadequacy is that it is normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance."

Where does perfection come from? A series of things, obviously. We can't be perfect for one moment or at some things. But Colossians 3:12-14 gives a very solid list of things to work on (underlined), with a very interesting phrase to close it:

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another... And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

The bond of perfectness. What a phrase! In 1 Cor. 13, Paul lists off many marvelous gifts he has, but notes over and over that everything else is useless unless he has charity.

We learn in Moroni 7:47 that "charity is the pure love of Christ." Even that is a hard term to get a grasp on. Elder David A. Bednar attributed it to the Savior's ability to turn outward when the normal person would have turned inward, even as He was hanging from a cross.

Now, I know we probably aren't able to be exactly like Christ already. What we certainly can do, though, is work on it. We are asked to serve God with all our "heart, might, mind, and strength." Giving our might, mind, and strength are really only returning the gifts God has given us. Any intelligence or muscle we can sacrifice for him, He could just as easily not have given to us. Our heart, though, is the one thing we can truly withhold from Him.

That is where charity comes from: our heart. If we want to truly be perfect, we need to consecrate our heart and our will to our Heavenly Father. He will have us use these gifts to build up those around us. That act of handing over our will can, and indeed will, bind all other gifts He has given us into perfection.

Protection from Fiery Darts

When Nephi was trying to explain in to his brothers 1 Nephi 15 the significance of his father's vision of the Tree of Life, they asked him what was meant by the Iron Rod. In verse 24, Nephi says that it is the "word of God" and that:

"Whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."

Do you see what that means? First, we can't just hearken unto the word of God, just hear it and say, "Yeah, that sounds like a good thing." We have to hold fast to it. Grab on and with all our might refuse to let go.

Second, and most importantly, it shows that when we really do hold fast to the word of God--keeping His commandments, constantly praying to get closer to him, and diligently seeking out that word by scripture study and church attendance--we are only promised that Satan's fiery darts will not overpower us. It does not promise that the darts won't come!

Trials are a guarantee. We WILL be tempted. Satan is an eternal enemy.

But, if we can "endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high; [we] shalt triumph over all [our] foes," as was promised to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 121:8.

This fantastic scripture, as well as the rest of the explanation of Lehi's dream in 1 Nephi 8, 1 Nephi 11, 1 Nephi 12, 1 Nephi 15, as well as many other chapters of the Book of Mormon, teach us how to endure these trials and temptations well, for they surely will come.

Being Born of God

In his youth, Alma the Younger was converted in a much more dramatic than almost any I've ever heard. Upon his emotional repentance, he declares that he is "born of God." In fact, he uses that phrase four times in his account of his conversion in Alma 36, again in Alma 38, and Mosiah wrote about Alma being born of God in Mosiah 27.

If you are unfamiliar with Alma's story, here is a very brief summary (or you can click on the first hyperlink above for a sweet video clip on it!): Alma had at one time gone "about secretly... to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God" (Mosiah 27:10). Yet when he was made aware of the consequences of his action, he went through "inexpressible horror" (Alma 36:14), until he remembered his Savior and felt "joy as exceeding as was [his] pain" (Alma 36:20).

Now in the LDS Church, the phrase "born of God" is much less frequent than in many other Christian faiths, but clearly no less important based on its repetitions in Alma's account. Remember, four times he used the phrase in one chapter when teaching his son about becoming converted and forgiven.

So, what does it mean?

Alma defines it very well by asking us in Alma 5:14-16:

"Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith? ... I say unto you, can you imagine yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?"

How about that!? Being born of God means we can literally imagine ourselves facing our Creator comfortably, knowing that we will be welcome into His kingdom. Imagine the peace that Alma must have felt because of his conversion!

But now here is the real kicker: Alma, like I said, used the phrase "born of God" four times in Alma 36. But, only two of these actually referred to himself.

After he had felt a peace that he described, saying, "there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy," he immediately wanted to help other people be born of God. In verse 24, he says he "labored without ceasing... that they might also be born of God." In verse 26, he celebrates that "many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted."

See, when we are born of God, when we truly know that we are on the path to living again with our Heavenly Father, there is nothing we would rather do than help others feel our same joy.

President Howard W. Hunter echoed this, saying, "Any time we experience
the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we cannot help but have a concern for the
welfare of others. . . . A great indicator of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share
the gospel with others."

So, let us all work to become as converted as Alma, that we may feel that joy and excitement, and that we can continue building up the Kingdom of God!

Send Your Goat of Guilt Away!

Throughout Leviticus, it talks about sacrificing lambs "without blemish" to make an atonement for individuals' sins. The symbolism here is clear, since we use the term "Lamb of God" to describe Jesus Christ, and we use the word atonement for the Savior's sacrifice for our sins.

What I found fascinating in my reading today, though, is found in Leviticus chapter 16. This chapter describes a special ordinance, where Aaron will take two goats, but only one will be sacrificed. Verse 21 reads:

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat."

So essentially, Aaron takes every sin that the Israelites have committed in the past year and gives them to the goat. This goat now represents all of their sins.

Then, the scriptures say that a designated man will carry the goat into the wilderness. Verse 22 reads:

"And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness."

Do you see what is being taught here? When we want Christ's Atonement to really have its full effect there's a little more to it than just being forgiven of our sins. That is what the Israelites took care of in their personal sacrifices. Beyond that, we need to send them off into the wilderness, into a land where no people are.

I don't have a goat, so don't think I'm suggesting that. What I am suggesting is that we need to let our past mistakes leave us. Send your guilt and your former frustrations leave you and your family and your friends.

The Savior taught, "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more."

If the Lord doesn't remember them, why should we? Why do we let our guilt hold us back from our eternal potential? Just send your goat full of guilt away!

Economics of Faith

I absolutely love economics--particularly political economics. On the mission, we aren't allowed to talk about politics with people, so I was thrilled when I came up with this analogy that shows faith's relation to keeping the commandments.

In economics, we measure a thing called "utility," which is essentially how happy an action makes you. It's hard though, because how do you measure happiness? "This pizza gives me 6 happies!" It wouldn't make sense. So, we use a term called "utils," but even that can only be measured by what we are willing to give up for it. Since we will pay $2 for a piece of pizza but won't for a dirt clod, we know the pizza has more utility, it makes us happier.

How do we measure our faith? Just like utility, you can't use a real unit on it. However, we can look at what we are willing to give up out of our love for Jesus Christ. What sins are we willing to set aside for Him? Are we willing to give our time and effort to building His kingdom? Are we willing to move past our pride and repent? Hebrews 11 describes what many prophets--Abraham, Moses, Enoch, etc.-- did because of their faith. So, how do we measure our faith? By our willingness to keep God's commandments.

Remember, James said, "Faith without works is dead," not "Faith is dead, so just work."

"A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible!"

In the middle of the Sixth Century B.C., the Lord warned the prophet Nephi that someday, when the record he was making was returned to the world, that people would cry out, "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible!" (2 Nephi 29:3)

This record is the Book of Mormon, and as a missionary, I can say that the Lord was certainly right about this! So, what is the Book of Mormon, and why need we have another book of scripture?

First and foremost, the Book of Mormon's full title is the "Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Pretty straight-forward. In the introduction of the Book of Mormon, it reads that the book is "holy scripture comparable to the Bible... and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel."

Well, the warning that people would one day claim, "We have got a Bible" isn't exactly disputed by this, but it's a starting place.

So, to answer the real question, why do we need more scripture if we already have the Bible? Paul answered this question to the Corinthians in 2 Cor 13:1, where he wrote, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." This was echoed to Moses in Deuteronomy 19:15. Christ himself actually said the same thing in Matthew 18:16!

See, we need multiple witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the divine Savior of the world! The Book of Mormon's title page, written by Moroni, reads that the book is written for just that, for "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God."

And before anyone tries to cite Revelations 22:18, please read Revelations 1:11. What book is John referring to here, the Bible or just the Revelation of John? My guess is the verse right after the warning in verse 18 is right, where it calls the book "the book of this prophecy." Otherwise, Deuteronomy 4:2 makes the rest of the Bible quite a waste...

Really, though, I think God has the best answer to why we need the Book of Mormon. A few verses later in 2 Nephi 29, this time in verses 7 and 8, the Lord tells Nephi:

"Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea... and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore, murmur ye, because ye shall receive more of my word?" (Emphasis added)

The Lord loves us. If that isn't clear to you, we have a looooot to cover. But if you understand that, then how can you not understand that the Lord would want His gospel, the very source of our souls' salvation, to be heard by all of his children? Would it make sense that Heavenly Father would want some of his children to return with Him and not others?

I invite you all to just try to read the Book of Mormon. Please! I can personally testify to you that no combination of books can bring us closer to our Redeemer than the Bible and the Book of Mormon. If you don't know how to get ahold of one, just comment on this post, and I will personally take care of it for you. I love you all, and I love my Savior, and I would love for you both to become better acquainted with each other.

Three Ways to Respond to Commandments

I started reading the Book of Mormon again last week, and my companion and I started reading it with one of our investigators, as well, so I've been really focusing on the first few chapters of 1 Nephi. Just like people always say, new things stand out to you every time, and this time I found a fascinating comparison in Chapter 2. It shows us three very different ways to respond to commandments, particularly difficult commandments.

At the beginning of the chapter, Lehi is commanded that he needs to leave Jerusalem. That doesn't just mean pack up his stuff and move to Syria or something, he had to leave everything, and the scriptures make it clear he was a pretty wealthy guy.

I feel for Lehi, here. Leaving what I had going for me back home to come on a mission was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and it absolutely terrified me. Even now, I'm terrified of when I'll be transferred from my first area, but look at the three ways people in Lehi's family responded:

1) Laman and Lemuel, as always, whine and complain about what they've been asked to do. In verse 12, it says, "they did murmer because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them." I think we all understand that this was the inappropriate reaction. They just got saved from being destroyed in Jerusalem, for goodness sakes!

But, I think we've all had our times of being like Laman and Lemuel. I think it is worth pointing out that they did leave with their family, when they could have just stayed at home alone. I give them slight amounts of props for at least obeying the commandment, even if it was very begrudgingly and without heart.

2) Lehi probably has the most faithful reaction. In verse 7, it says that as soon as Lehi got out of Jerusalem and found a place to camp out, he "gave thanks unto the Lord our God." What a man! He just had to leave everything he had going for him and the first thing he does when he stops hiking is give thanks! Clearly, he understood that the Lord only gives us commandments in order to bless us.

But, can we really do the same? Well, I would naturally, as a representative of Jesus Christ, say, "Of course we can!" As a 19-year-old mortal boy, though, I would say, "I don't know if I could really do that..."

3) Here's where I think we can ALL aim for, though: Let's be like Nephi. Nephi, I noticed, felt a little apprehensive. Trusting in the Lord and hopeful, still, but noticeably nervous about what was going down here. But look at how he handled this fear! In verse 16, Nephi says, "Having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father."

I think we can do that! I think we can all trust in the Lord just enough to at least ask Him for comfort and ask Him for help understanding the hard things we are asked to do. One of my favorite verses in the scriptures is later on in 1 Nephi, this time in chapter 11, verse 17. It reads, "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."

We all subconsciously acknowledge that our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, have a purpose in everything they do. If we can just internalize that they do EVERYTHING out of love, and then simply have the faith to pray to Heavenly Father and ask for help, he will, just as He did for Nephi, "soften [our] heart" so that we can believe "all the words which have been spoken" from God.