The Process of Perfection

In Matthew 5, Christ gives the following command: "Be ye therefore perfect." The simple reality is that, in this life, we will never attain perfection. The process of perfection, though, is one that we can follow and in doing so, we can learn more about ourselves, Christ, and the love that He has for all of us. The Savior, the Master Teacher, taught us that "strait is the way and narrow is the gate" that leads to eternal life; and the only way we can be on track to make it through that gate and along the way that He has prepared is by following Him. Because perfection is a process, one of the most important things we must remember is to be patient with ourselves. Life is hard. There are a lot of things that potentially stand in the way between where we are now and the "perfect" that we are commanded to be. Maybe it's best to add another command that Christ often gives: "come." So maybe we are supposed to be perfect by coming unto Him; in other words, maybe what He's really asking is that we try our best, that we "learn of [Him]" and strive to be more like Him, recognizing that we can work to be-come perfect over time, rather than striving to be perfect right now.