In her book, Am I a Saint Yet?
Healing the Pain of Perfectionism (Springville, Utah: CFI, 2012), 150-8. M.
Sue Bergin provides the following quotes from Church leaders (and some modern commentators
such as the late Stephen Robinson) who explicitly deny that one becomes “perfect”
in this lifetime:
We all need to remember: men are that they might have joy—not guilt
trips!—Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” Ensign, November 1995, 86.
The Church is “for the perfecting of the saints” (Ephesians 4:12); it is
not a wall-provisioned rest home for the already perfected.—Elder Neal A.
Maxwell, “A Brother Offended,” Ensign,
May 1982, 38.
We have to become perfect to be saved in the celestial kingdom, but
nobody becomes perfect in this life. Only the Lord Jesus attained that state,
and he had an advantage that none of us has. He was the Son of God . . .
Becoming perfect in Christ is a process.—Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year (Provo:
Brigham Young University, 1977), 399-400.
It occurs to me that there are probably hundreds or even thousands who
do not understand what worthiness is. Worthiness is a process and perfection is
an eternal trek. We can be worthy to enjoy certain privileges without being
perfect . . . We need to come to terms with our desire to reach perfection and
our frustration when our accomplishments or behaviors are less than perfect. I
feel that one of the great myths we would do well to dispel is that we’ve come
to earth to perfect ourselves, and nothing short of that will do. If I
understand the teachings of the prophets of this dispensation correctly, we
will not become perfect in this life, though we can make significant strides
toward that goal.—Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “On Being Worthy,” Ensign, May 1989, 20.
Now, this is the truth. We humble people, we who feel ourselves
sometimes to worthless, so good-for-nothing, we are not so worthless as we
think. There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There
is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us
that He has not desired to save and that He has not devised means to save.
There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We
may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes and in the eyes of
others, but the truth remains that we are children of God and that He has
actually given His angels . . . charge concerning us, and they watch over us
and have us in their keeping.—President George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truths, comp. Jerreld L. Newquist, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book, 1974), 1:2.
I speak, not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry
their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security, but to those
buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom,
have recurring feelings of falling forever short . . . The first thing to be
said of this feeling of inadequacy is that it is normal . . . Following
celestial road signs while in telestial traffic jams is not easy, especially
when we are not just moving next door—or even across town.—Elder Neal A.
Maxwell, “Notwithstanding My Weakness,” Ensign,
November 1976, 12.
Perfection is worth striving for even if it is ultimately unattainable
in this life. For it is through our struggle to become like the Savior and His
Father that we ourselves become perfected. If we follow the pattern that Christ
set for us, we will be responding to the scriptural mandate to “come unto
Christ, and be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:32).—Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Guided
by His Exemplary Life,” Ensign,
February 1999, 34.
I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. Please don’t nag
yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to
achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will
accept of your effort.—President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Rise to the Stature of
the Divine within You,” Ensign,
November 1989, 94.
“Be ye therefore perfect” (Matthew 5:48), our Savior’s admonition in the
Sermon on the Mount, is of great concern for many of us as we true to reconcile
our lives with this important counsel. Yet the teachings of Jesus Christ are
for those of us who are imperfect. To the Pharisees’ question about why He ate
with publicans and sinners. Christ replied: “They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). What a blessing to know that
the focus of his work is with imperfect people!—Elder LeGrand R. Curtis, “Perfection:
A Daily Process,” Ensign, July 1995,
30.
There are things that most of us will need to work on throughout our
entire lives and yet not reach the perfection that is eventually promised until
the eternities if we are true and faithful. Matters such as having absolute
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a complete understanding of the scriptures,
always controlling our thoughts and our tongues are all issues that requires
persistence and patience . . . Be sure that you do not have higher standards
for yourself on others than the Lord has established. Find satisfaction in your
progress while acknowledging that perfection may still be distant.—Elder Cecil
O. Samuelson, “What Does It Mean to Be Perfect?” From a devotional given on
March 19, 2002, at the Provo Missionary Training Center.
As we move towards perfection, it is easy to feel that we fall short. We
can take confidence that the Lord knows us intimately; He knows the intent of
our hearts. He will surely show us the way as we humble ourselves, are
obedient, and work toward continual improvement. Even now, He prepares us in
ways that we can’t yet see. The eyes of our understanding will be opened as we
keep the commandments and seek to serve Him. We have the potential to
eventually become perfected in Christ. This is a divine inheritance.—Elder Dale
E. Miller, “The Kingdom’s Perfecting Pathway,” Ensign, May 1998, 29.
In urging us to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Jesus was
not taunting us or teasing us. He was telling us a powerful truth about our
possibilities and about our potential. It is a truth almost too stunning to contemplate.
Jesus, who could not lie, sought to beckon us to move further along the pathway
to perfection . . . The scriptures contain many marvelous case studies of
leaders who, unlike Jesus, were not perfect but were still very effective.—President
Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus: The Perfect Leader,” Ensign, August 1979, 5.
Salvation does not come all at once; we are commanded to be perfect even
as our Father in heaven is perfect. It will take us ages to accomplish this
end, for there will be greater progress beyond the grave, and it will be there
that the faithful will overcome all things, and receive all things, even the
fullness of the Father’s glory. I believe the Lord meant just what he said:
that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not
come all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon
example, and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will
have to go even beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be
like God, But here we lay the foundation.—Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3-vols., comp.
Bruce R. McConkie (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954-56), 2:18.
What we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That
course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine
in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability we have, that
from this time forward we will press on its righteousness; by so doing we can
go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the
course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in
eternity. That same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from
this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If
we go out of this life loving the Lord, desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire
the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal
world, and we will then continue to advance and progress until an ultimate,
destined day when we will possess, receive, and inherit all things.—Elder Bruce
R. McConkie, “The Seven Deadly heresies,” in Speeches of the Year 1980 (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University,
1981), 78-79.
Somehow, some of us get it in our heads that if we are not making great,
dramatic leaps forward spiritually, we are not progressing. Actually, for most
of us, the challenge of living the gospel is that progress comes in almost
imperceptible increments. It is very seldom that we can look back over one day
and see great process. Becoming like God takes years and years of striving, and
trying again.—Gerald N. Lund, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, August 1986, 38-41.
What good is to have a Savior if not one is saved? It’s like having a
lifeguard that won’t get out of the chair. The great truth of the gospel is
that we have a Savior who can and will save us from ourselves, from what we
lack, from our imperfections, from the carnality within us, if we see his help
. . . Many of us are trying to save ourselves, holding the Atonement of Jesus
Christ at arm’s distance and saying, “When I’ve perfected myself, then I’ll be
worthy of the Atonement.” But that’s not how it works. That’s like saying, “I
won't’ take the medicine until I’m well. I’ll be worthy of it then.”—Stephen E.
Robinson, “Believing Christ,” Ensign,
April 1992, 5.
In Matthew 5:48, the term perfect was translated from the Greek teleios, which means “complete.” Teleios is an adjective derived from the
noun telos, which means “end.” The
infinitive form of the verb is teleiono,
which means “to reach a distant end, to be fully developed, to consummate, or
to finish.” Please note that the word does not imply “freedom from error”; it
implies “achieving a distant objective.” In fact, when writers of the Greek New
Testament wished to describe perfection of behavior—precision or excellence of
human efforts—they did not employ a form of teleios; instead, they chose
different words . . . Such lofty standards when earnestly pursued, produce greater inner peace and incomparable joy
. . . Let us do the best we can and try to improve each day. When our imperfections
appear, we can keep trying to correct them. We can be more forgiving of flaws
in ourselves and among those we love. We can be comforted and forbearing. The
Lord taught, “Ye are not able to abide the presence of God now . . .;
wherefore, continue in patience until ye are perfected.”—Elder Russell M.
Nelson, “Protection Pending,” Ensign,
November 1999, 86 (emphasis added).
We will not become perfect in a day or a month or a year. We will not
accomplish it in a lifetime, but we can keep trying, starting with our more
obvious weaknesses and gradually converting them to strengths as we go forward
with our lives. “Look to God, and live” (Alma 37:47). Kneel before Him in
supplication. He will help you, He will bless you. He will comfort and sustain
you. There will be progress. There will be growth. There will be improvement.
And there will be much of added happiness . . . If there has been failure in
the past, if there has been sin, if there has been indolence, hey may all be
overcome.—President Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Quest for Excellence,” Ensign, September 1999, 2.
I feel that [the Savior] will give that punishment which is the very
least that our transgressions will justify. I believe that he will bring into
his justice all of the infinite love and blessing and mercy and kindness and understanding
which he has . . .And on the other hand, I believe that when it comes to making
the rewards for our good conduct, he will give us the maximum that it is
possible to give, having in mind the offense which we have committee. As Isaiah
wrote, if we will return unto the Lord, “he will abundantly pardon.”—President J.
Reuben Clark, Jr., quoted in James F. Faust, “The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope,”
Ensign, November 2001.
It is impossible for us here in mortality to come to that state of
perfection of which the Master spoke, but in this life we lay the foundation on
which we will built in eternity.—Harold B. Lee, Decisions for Successful Living (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
1973), 41.
Please don’t nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far
beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you
know, and the Lord will accept of your effort.—Gordon B. Hinckley, “Rise to the
Stature of the Divine within You,” Ensign,
November 1989, 94.
It is good to remember that being too hard on yourself when you make a
mistake can be as negative as being too casual when real repentance is needed.—Cecil
O. Samuelson, Jr., “Testimony,” Ensign,
May 2011, 41.
We are not perfect. The people around us are not perfect. People do
things that annoy, disappoint, and anger. In this mortal life it will be always
be that way . . . Part of the purpose of mortality is to learn how to let go of
such things.—Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Merciful Obtain Mercy,” Ensign, May 2012, 77.
Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth
and changes that is slow, almost imperceptible . . . The Lord is pleased with
every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him.
Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not
give up hope.—Ezra Taft Benson, “A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, October 1989.
My dear brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged if you stumble at
times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worth to be a disciple
of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to
try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study
the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do
the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems
difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and
a real part of you.—Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Loving of God,” Ensign, November 2009, 23.
Further Reading
Matthew 5:48 as implicit evidence for the Latter-day Saint understanding of Theosis
