それだから、あなたがたの天の父が完全であられるように、あなたがたも完全な者となりなさい。マタイ５：４8
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48
This is a commandment the Lord gave to us. We need to live this law in order to receive the greatest blessing of all, the opportunity to return and live once again with our Heavenly parents.
For all of us, this commandment seems almost impossible. We all have many faults and weaknesses. We all make silly mistakes. We all do things we later regret.
But we know that we can keep this commandment, with the help of Heavenly Father. Nephi taught us this important lesson:
そごて、わたしニーファイは父に言った。「わたしは行って、主が命じられたことを行います。主が命じられることには、それを成し遂げられるように主によって道が備えられており、それでなくては、主は何の命令も人の子らに下されないことを承知しているからです。」
(１ニーファイ３：７)
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.
(1 Nep 3:7)
One important thing for us to remember is that there is no time limit set for this commandment. It does not say, “You must be perfect today!”. It sets a goal for us, but does not set a time limit. We must not get discouraged because we still make mistakes. We must not get discouraged because we still have faults. We must not get discouraged because we still are not perfect.
In the President Lorenzo Snowlesson manual, chapter 6, President Snow teaches:
「一度に完全になれると思ってはなりません。そんな期待をしたら、失望するでしょう。今日は昨日より良くなり、明日は今日よりも良くなるようにしなさい。」(page 92)
“Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you were today.” (page 103)
President Brigham Young said that he didn’t care how many millions of years it takes him in the next life to become perfect. He will work at it as long as it takes. We must do the same, no matter how long it takes.
Let’s try this week to be a little better each day. Let’s try to make small improvements in our lives each day. Let’s try to make this week better than last week.
Let’s all have a great week!
よろしく
Bill Hiatt