As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, learning to become more like Christ is a topic of great importance to me. It's a task each of us continually work towards or away from each day for our entire lives. Repeatedly in the New Testament we are commanded to be like Christ, but it always seems so overwhelming. How are we supposed to be perfect all the time like Christ was? It's daunting, but it doesn't have to be.
We are commanded to be perfect, even as Christ is perfect. However, the word "perfect" in Greek--which is the language much of the New Testament is written in--can also be translated to mean complete or whole. To be perfect is to make ourselves more complete, which we can only do relying on God throughout our entire lives. What I'd like to talk about is what we can do to get closer to finding our completed self, while recognizing we will not be "perfect" all the time in this life.
It has always stood out to me in the scriptures how many attributes of Christ that we seem to overlook. But if we are supposed to become like Christ, aren't these attributes just as important? What are attributes of Christ? He was kind, he was patient, he was humble. Are not all these things we can do?
Easter Sunday is just around the corner, so today, I was reading about the first Easter Sunday--Christ's resurrection. In John 8, Mary Magdalene comes upon where the Savior had been buried and finds He is no longer there. The story reads, "11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
(John 20:11-18 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/20?lang=eng)
There are so many beautiful things we can get out of this story, but I'd like to focus on one. As I was reading this, the phrase that stuck out to me was "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
This is powerful. By saying this, Christ reminds Mary that she is a daughter of a perfect God just as much as He is a son of God. Likewise, Christ respects God just as much as Mary and the rest of us have been commanded to do. Christ who was perfect, shows the same respect to God as each of us has been commanded. This is because Christ recognizes His own divinity as well as each of ours. He knows how important He is and all of us are, but he also knows no matter how important to our Father in Heaven we are, we must show respect to Him because He is our Father and because He is perfect and knows each of us perfectly. Jesus Christ knew who He was. This is one attribute of Christ that all of us can work towards without being overwhelmed.
In this story, Mary represents what each of us can discover if we learn how to recognize our divine nature. At first, she did not recognize the Savior. However, when he said simply her name, she knew who He was. She was able to recognize herself in Christ because she knew Him, and heard herself in Him. How beautiful is that?
King Follett Sermon said, "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves." We are currently seeing the exact opposite of that in this world. People forget God, and as a result they have less self esteem and self confidence because they can't see their own value. However, as people learn more about God, they can have the knowledge of their own worth.
Everyone struggles with self doubt at one time or another, myself included. Some days will be hard and you will wonder if anything you do is worth anything. If we come to know God, we can and will find our own value. What better gift could we have than knowing we are important?
We have all been commanded to be like Christ, but there are so many smaller aspects of His character than we can work on a little every day. We needn't be overwhelmed. I want each and every one of you to know, no matter your life story, situation, or any other aspect of yourself, that you are important. God loves you. You have something that you and no one else can bring to this world. Christ knew that for Himself, and you can know that for yourself. Never forget who you are.
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