Imperfection ≠ Failure

Imperfection ≠ Failure

I had a blog post all lined up this morning, but at Institute, I heard a quote that I want to blog about even more:

Remember that one of Satan’s strategies, especially with good people, is to whisper in their ears: “If you are not perfect, you are failing.” This is one of his most effective deceptions, for it contains some elements of truth. But it is deception nonetheless. While we should never be completely satisfied until we are perfect, we should recognize that God is pleased with every effort we make—no matter how faltering—to better ourselves. One of the most commonly listed attributes of God is that he is long-suffering and quick to show mercy. He wants us to strive for perfection, but the fact that we have not yet achieved it does not mean we are failing.

- Gerald N. Lund

Maybe I should just leave the quote here and call that my blog post, because I'm not sure how I could improve upon it. The quote came from the August 1986 Ensign, in a section titled I Have a Question, in which several Gospel-related questions were answered, including "Are we expected to achieve perfection in this life? If so, how can I avoid becoming discouraged with myself as I try to achieve it?"

The short answer is "No, we don't have to achieve perfection in this life." We should strive for perfection, which means at least setting it as our eternal goal and trying to progress toward it, but we don't have to reach the goal of perfection before we die, which is fortunate, because we weren't going to be able to manage that anyway. None of us are perfect. None of us are ever going to become perfect in this lifetime. And that's okay. God knows that we are not, and cannot become, perfect in this life. That's part of the reason He sent His Son to atone for our sins, so we could become perfect in Him. In the meantime, we don't have to beat ourselves up about having imperfections. We all have plenty of flaws to work on as we strive toward godliness. Overcoming our imperfections is a work of a lifetime, and it will take longer than one natural lifetime to do it. While we should constantly strive to overcome our failings, we can take comfort in knowing that being temporarily imperfect is not one of them.