"Be ye therefore perfect": a knee-buckling commandment

I've been a slacker blogger, I know, but I'll get to updates later. I just wanted to share some thoughts I had today.

I've been rereading the May 2011 Conference edition Ensign in preparation for General Conference this weekend. In his talk entitled "An Ensign to the Nations", Elder Holland talked about being a disciple of Christ. He said, "As the path of discipleship ascends, that trail gets ever more narrow until we come to that knee-buckling pinnacle of the sermon [on the mount]: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' " (p 112, referring to Matt 5:48).  As I read this, the reference to this "knee-buckling pinnacle" hit me, and I pondered on it.

Whenever we come to a point in our lives that we are trying so hard and failing, we are so beat down by life, or we just can't seem to take one step further, what happens? Our knees buckle. Anyone who has experienced significant failure, heartache, loss, or is crushed in some other way knows that this is both metaphoric and literal. You may feel so crushed by a failure that you feel like you've fallen down and can't get up. When exercising and you can't take one step further, your legs give out and your knees buckle. Any substantial loss or inability to press forward can affect you so strongly that you have a hard time standing (let alone walking) because of your knees buckling.

Ironically, I was exercising hard at the gym when this thought came to mind, and my knees were somewhat close to buckling. Perhaps that situation was why it hit me so strongly.

To me, it is no coincidence that our knees buckling beneath us puts us in the same physical position in which we pray. I am confident that the Lord created us this way for a reason. When we face these trials and tribulations that are too much for us to handle, our knees buckle and we fall into that kneeling position, the perfect place for prayer. But do we pray then? Many will forget to do so. Those who have learned the value of relying on the Lord know that when we fall to our knees and can't get back up, if we pray to Our Father, He will give us the strength to press forward.

This commandment to be perfect as God is perfect is indeed a knee-buckling idea. I think about my weaknesses and sins and wonder how I'll ever make it that far, or even come close to it. But as my knees buckle and I pray to the Lord because I can't do this alone, He brings me back up to a standing position, strengthens my feeble knees, and pours into me His power to persevere.

I once had a friend tell me I should stop trying to be perfect because it'll never happen. But this is a commandment from God, and it is a continuous process. The key is to understand the process by which we are made perfect. Moroni clarifies this for us: Moroni 10:32-33 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

I love the footnotes to the scriptures; they so enrich our learning. The words "come unto Christ" have a footnote that relates the idea to "being teachable", and to Revelations 22:17, which tells us that anyone who hears and thirsts can come to Christ to partake of living water. "Be perfected in him" has several additional footnotes: a reference to Galatians 3:24 (we are justified by faith), a note that we are to be spiritually reborn, and a note that we are to be worthy. To "deny yourselves of all ungodliness" is also to persevere. So to come to Christ in humility, desiring for that living water, having faith, being spiritually reborn through our baptismal covenants, living worthily, denying ourselves of ungodliness, persevering, plus being committed to God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, qualify us for His grace, which is what perfects us. Through that process, we come to rely more and more on the Lord until we cannot deny His power, and according to His prophet Moroni, that is what sanctifies us and makes us holy. NONE of this is possible without wholly relying on Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the beautiful gift of His Atonement.

How many prophets in the scriptures have spoken of those telling moments in their lives when they fell down before God, pleading for help in that which they could not bear? Heavenly Father never left them alone, and He will never leave us alone. In 1 Nephi we learn that He will give us no commandment without preparing a way for us to accomplish it. He commands us to be perfect, and He has prepared a way for us to obey. When our knees buckle because we are so discouraged or pained that we can't take one more step, do we pray to the Lord for strength to move on? Ancient and modern prophets have done it; can we not do the same?