Becoming more Christ-like
based on the examples of women in my life
In 3rd
Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, and John, in the New Testament, Christ has
commanded us to “Be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is
perfect.” For “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
We cannot be
perfect beings in this life, but, we can be perfect in many attributes of our
lives. We can be perfect in not swearing and taking the Lord’s name in vain. We
can be perfect in keeping the law of chastity. We can be perfect in paying our
tithes and offerings to the Lord. In these things, we can be entirely without
flaws or shortcomings. But in so many other ways of life, such perfection is
unattainable in the mortal realm, and we can only dedicate ourselves to being
the absolute best we can. To strive for such perfect goals, we must follow the
Master, Christ the Lord, and develop and adopt His attributes in ourselves.
With today
being Mother’s Day, I would like to honor, and use as examples, the women in my
life who have dedicated themselves to the Lord, and who have developed
Christ-like lives that stand as shining beacons of hope to those around them.
The first is
my mother. My mom is very finely tuned to the spirit. She has done away with
just about anything that may detract the spirit from our home. She does not
watch violent, crude, provocative, or even inappropriately funny movies, or
shows. The most she has ever uttered a curse word is when reading the
scriptures about damned souls to Hell at family scripture time…and when she
does happen to get those verses, we gasp and make a fake fuss over it, though
we all know that if she ever truly did curse, we would all be crouched in the
fetal position, praying more fervently than any man ever before that the
eternal judgment that was surely about to befall us would be kind. My mother is
gentle and may get frustrated, but she is not quick to anger. Her jokes are
clean and still funny. She serves willingly and without expectation of reward.
All of these things are so because my mother loves the Lord with all her heart,
she follows Him, and she has learned to love like Him. She does not need
material things to be happy.
Next, is my
older sister, Amelia. When Amelia returned from her mission a few years back,
she resumed her studies at BYU. I was living and working in Provo at the time,
and I hoped to help her re-adjust to life after her mission. The only
adjustment she made and really needed to make was realizing that if she was at
the grocery store and the person she was with walked off to look at something,
she was not going to get in trouble for leaving her companion. Amelia has
always been close to the Lord. She studies the scriptures each day, prays
often, attends church, firesides, conferences, activities, and always serves
others. When she returned from her mission, I thought her over-happiness and
bubbliness would wear off. Married and with her first child now, her zeal has only
ever increased.
Now, to my
younger sisters. The first is Annie, who is currently serving a mission in
South Carolina. Annie was told in her patriarchal blessing to prepare to serve
a mission. As boy crazy as she was, and as often as boys were always around
her, we figured that by preparing to serve a mission, she would be prepared to
enter the temple and be married. Somewhat surprisingly, she 86’d her suitors
and submitted herself to the Lord’s service as a missionary. In weekly emails,
I have witnessed tremendous growth in practically every aspect of her life as
she has learned to be more like Christ. Here is an excerpt from a recent email:
I know I am not perfect but I do strive
each day to represent Christ. Are my actions acceptable regardless of who sees
me? Will I stand up for that which is right at all times and in all places no
matter what? I know that each day we need to reflect on where we are and where
we want to be and work to get there each moment of our lives. We have the
opportunity to be an example to the world. I pray that we will stand for that
which is right and remember who we are. I love this Gospel and am grateful for
who it is helping me become. Each day I try to do better leads me to feeling
just a little happier then I was the day before because I am striving to be
that much closer to God.
Annie is not
the bunny-soft-and-gentle kind of girl my mother and Amelia are. She plays
sports with the boys and often puts them to shame, but she is not afraid to
stand up for the truth and make the right choice when hard decisions come her way.
My third
sister scares me. Her name is Camilla. Camilla is morally excellent in every
way. She absolutely loves and adores music and the arts, but she refrains from
offensive movies and does not listen to inappropriate songs, regardless of how
catchy they are. She is a friend to everyone she meets, is as selfless as they
come, and she has put on the full armor of God, because no matter what you
throw at her, it just bounces right off. But she still scares me. There is
something about the combination of her pure spirituality and her ability to pummel
anyone who dares cross her…she was definitely put here on earth to keep me in
check. Most of the time we spend Skyping , she is rolling her eyes at my
comments, covering her face in humble frustration, and probably praying that
someday I will be less of me and more…well, just less of me would be great for
her.
The youngest
of the family and my favorite sister, and I make no secret of that fact, is
Angela. She is the typical young and spoiled child and it is a miracle my
parents aren’t paying the rent to her. Angela is only 16, but she has already
decided to be more like Christ. She stands out as an example to her friends for
her decisions on what she will and will not do. She invites friends to church
activities and is not afraid to talk about the church and her beliefs. Even as
a rebellious teenager, she refrains from inappropriate language and also has
standards for what movies she will watch and what music she will hear.
Having
described to you the attributes of my mom and four sisters, some might say they
are Molly Mormons. If I called them that, they would likely shrug their
shoulders and say, “I guess we are, and we’re proud of it.”
I used to think that so-called Molly Mormons
should be avoided at all costs. In my mind, anyone so smiley all the time must
be mad. As I have grown and sought to draw myself nearer to my Father in Heaven
and his son Jesus Christ, I have come to the conclusion that being a Molly
Mormon, or, for guys, a Peter Priesthood, is not a bad thing, but, in fact,
something we ought to be striving for.
Any brethren
who disagree, let me expound briefly. Guys, think of a girl you have met that
you found worth getting to know on a deeper, emotional level. As you began to
care about this special lady more, did you ever think, “Boy, I like this gal
and she deserves a double-wide to move into together and a bicycle, and maybe
if we make it last long enough, we can have a common law marriage!” I highly
doubt any of you thought that. More likely, you thought “Wow, this beautiful
girl, who I have been so blessed to meet, deserves the world and I want to give
it to her. She needs a guy who can do more than just buy her nice things, she
needs a guy who has a strong testimony, who worthily holds and exercises the
priesthood to provide for her spiritual well-being, and who will devote all of
time and eternity to serving her and all others before himself.” And brethren,
you want to be that guy, because if you are, you can fulfill your eternal
exaltation, wherein you can become Gods with your Goddesses, and create such
indescribable beauty as mountains and meadows, lakes and streams, sunrises and
sunsets, plants and animals, and children to bring you joy above all.
But such
pure and eternal bliss can never be attained if we do not adopt Christ-like attributes
and draw nearer to Him, and to draw nearer to Him, it is important not just
what we do, but who we are.
In Preach My
Gospel, there is a great section titled “How Do I Develop Christ-like
Attributes?” In this chapter, it discusses principles of faith, hope, charity
and love, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience as
ways in which we may improve ourselves in these areas and in becoming more like
Christ and how that will benefit us in our path to eternal life.
It has
become a tradition for me to compose a poem when I speak, and I would
like to conclude with my poem for you today.
Sent to Earth to grow and learn,
God’s great blessings we must earn,
and dedication to his Son,
is how our exaltation’s won.
We must be kind to all we meet,
helping them through service sweet.
We must be pure in thought and deed,
give all we have, and put off greed.
With faith in Christ we can be
taught,
that humility will help a lot.
Devote your Sunday every week,
it’s alright to be a “Jesus freak”.
Love with all your mind and soul,
Joy will make your whole heart full.
Read and ponder scriptural books,
bad media do not need your looks.
Mimic attributes of He,
who gave his life for you and me,
and nearer you will draw to be,
exalted for eternity.
