Do We Need to Be Perfect Now?

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From an October 2017 general conference address.

The scriptures were written to bless and encourage us, and surely they do that. But have you noticed that every now and then a passage will appear that reminds us we are falling a little short? For example: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father … in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). With that commandment, we want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Such a celestial goal seems beyond our reach. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment He knew we could not keep.

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,” Moroni pleads. “Love God with all your might, mind and strength, then … by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32; emphasis added). Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven—we can’t “earn” it.

Except for Jesus, there have been no flawless performances on this earthly journey we are pursuing, so while in mortality let’s strive for steady improvement and avoid excessive expectations of ourselves and of others.

If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete—which is the New Testament meaning of perfection.