http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7068
(Other media verions - http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=624)
I really like the way Elder Maxwell lays out what the word "perfect" really means in the scripture "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (3 Nephi 12:48). It make a lot more sense than the world's version of "Perfection".
He also goes on the lay out a "cheat sheet" of the Christ-like attributes we are to perfect outselves in, as well as opposite traits that can warn us that we may not be as centered on the path as we may think we are...
Excellent read. Please take the time to read or listen - it will be worth it.
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The Greek rendering for "perfect" is, by the way, "complete, finished, fully developed." After his atonement and resurrection, Jesus included himself as our pattern. "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (3 Nephi 12:48). One of the problems we have in the Church is that we consider perfection in abstraction, and it becomes too intimidating. But when we think of it in terms of the specific, cardinal attributes, and we strive to develop these in a steady process of self-improvement, it is quite a different matter.
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Too often when we seek to excuse ourselves, it is, ironically, "the natural man" we are excusing. Yet scriptures inform us "the natural man" is to be "put off" (see Mosiah 3:19). "He" certainly should not be "kept on" because of a mistaken sense that the natural man constitutes our individuality.
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In this process, substance and style interplay constantly--more than we realize! How, for instance, can we be like the Father and Son if we are poor listeners? How can we become "even as [Jesus] is" if we are impatient or proud?
The gospel gives proportion as to both substance and style. For example, it is far more important to be morally clean rather than to be a clean-desk individual. Similarly, it is better to "speak the truth in love," as Paul counsels, than it is to simply speak the truth (see Ephesians 4:15).
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As we think about the process of becoming the men and women of Christ, questions may naturally arise, such as: "Will all the men and women of Christ be alike in every respect?" "Will there be a loss of individuality?" I think not. For instance, the quality of meekness is clearly essential, but there are many individual ways of expressing meekness. Furthermore, what we now defensively regard as constituting individuality is likely to be significantly refined.
An immense developmental clue is to be found in these next words: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matthew 11:29). By being yoked, we can best learn of Jesus' perfected qualities, though only in our comparatively small ways. If we are meek, through our smaller but similar experiences we will come to appreciate Jesus' perfected qualities even more. Then our adoration of him produces a desire for emulation of him.
The Prophet Joseph, whose own life was lived in a crescendo of self-improvement amid adversity, observed:
The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, [he] arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment. [Teachings, p. 51]
The clearer one's views, the more one sees "things as they really are," the greater the happiness!
Thus, beyond the free gift of immortality, "working out our salvation" includes "working out" the development of these eternal virtues in our lives!
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