Lesson for March 11, 2018

Our lesson was taught by Lana Horrocks based on the talk by Jeffrey R. Holland, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually.” Lana began the lesson by saying she was a recovering perfectionist and she forgot it was Daylight Savings today. She believes that we should focus on positive things so they can be embedded in our minds. She quoted Elder Holland about how the command to be perfect is the final nail in the coffin and beyond our reach, but surely we can at least work on it. We discussed examples of being perfectionists. Some of us are perfectionists and get anxious and teaching our children about being organized. We should focus on “People are more important than stuff.” While we’re all focusing on perfectionism, we need to remember that being perfect is related to being whole and complete. Sometimes in our lives we need to start in the corner and work out. When we move into times when we have to do harder things, we have to remember not to feel bad about ourselves. Our self-esteem can be damaged, so we put things off when we don’t think we can be perfect. We can pray to Heavenly Father to help us with what we have to do. Lana told the story of a little boy whose father told him to move a huge rock and do it using every resource. The boy struggled and went back to his father who said have you used every resource? The boy said he had and his father said, You haven’t asked me for help. Young people sometimes thin of commandments are curses, but every commandment comes with blessings. For example, tithing, the Word of Wisdom, and Family Home Evening bring us blessings. Elder Holland said the willingness to repent can help us achieve perfection. We discussed issues with body image. We can help each other feel good about ourselves and love ourselves. We should remember that our bodies can help us serve others and do many other things. We need to focus on the positive aspects of our bodies and know how capable and worth loving. We should not be ashamed. Exercise and eating healthy are not a punishment, but should be how we treat a valued body. As a Mormon society we have perfection issues. God intended how we treat out bodies, it is a tribute to God and the bodies He gave us. W need to not treat God and His Son despitefully. The Atonement of Jesus Christ speaks to our peace. Lana showed a part of the video of Elder Holland’s talk—the part about the servant who owed some money and who then would not forgive another dead. Elder Holland said the larger debt was supposed to be incomprehensible and that story is supposed to be about us and the debt we owe to God. We would have remained in debt and prison forever but for the Atonement. It is an unfathonable debt for an incomprehensible amount, just as our debt is to Jesus Christ who has made the point that it is doable. Christ paid a billion dollars to our hundred dollars, but it is doable. We can speak a little bit more God-like. What change could you make as you speak to your family, friends, co-workers. If we approached each other acknowledging that we really don’t know everything about each other we can understand more about how you can. We can be more friendly with our faces to uplift others. We can be courteous. Lana gave us a handout about how we can be more Godlike. We all want to be better than we are. We should refuse to let these desires make us cynical. Instead, we should work on being complete. Many of the negative thoughts are in our heads, but not in our thoughts. If we say our thoughts alone in prayer, we can partner with the Spirit to help us address our negative thoughts. Every thought we say may not even be from ourselves, but it may be from Satan. In a talk from the last April Conference on weakness, we can get inspiration. If you have the desire to improve, we can glory in our magnificent God-like heritage.