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.