Even As I Am

To my son,

               The Savior asked one of the most important questions that we can consider in this life to the Nephites. He said this, “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?” In other words, He was asking them, “What kind of person do you want to be? Who do you want to become? What kind of person will you be remembered as?” What kind of answers might we give to His question? Some might say that they want to be popular with their peers. Others might say that they want to be rich and famous. Others desire to be the very best at a sport or some other talent. Some want to have great power over others. Others just want to be accepted by the world and be like everyone else. None of those, though, are what the Savior wants most for us. He answered His own question with these simple words: “Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27). What we should want more than anything is to become like Jesus Christ—that is the greatest thing that we can desire to be. He said this in another way when He taught, “Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). Of course we cannot be perfect in this life, but we can strive each day to be better and better and to become more like He is. And in time, we can become complete in Him just as Moroni taught: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32). If we come unto Him, He can—through His grace—make us like Him.

               After understanding that our greatest desire should be to become like Him, the next natural question is this: what is the Savior like? John taught us that He is defined by love, and the scriptures teach us that this is the definition of charity which also describes His characteristics: “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (Moroni 7:45). That is who we want to become: someone who is kind, who suffers long without complaint, who is humble, who endures difficulty in faith, and who doesn’t seek only for their own betterment. Jesus showed us in powerful and numerous ways what this looks like in practice. Here is one of many stories that shows the kind of love He had for others. As He was traveling to go help a man named Jairus whose daughter was sick and dying, Mark recorded, “And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.” His goodness was so powerful that simply by touching Him she was healed of a sickness that had lasted a dozen years. But He didn’t let her go unnoticed: “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?... And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague” (Mark 5:24-34). This was a woman who was an outcast in society because of her illness, and likely there were very few who ever treated her with any respect. Jesus not only healed her, but He also took the time to speak to her, calm her fears, and send her away in peace with the perfect love that He had. He did that kind of thing over and over again throughout His life: healing the sick, helping the deaf to hear, giving sight to the blind, and even raising the dead. Wherever He went, He made things better and showed love to all around Him. That is the kind of person that we want to be—one who is a healer and a helper, one who is even as He is. Of course we can only do that in a small way, but we can strive each day to be more like Him in how we treat those around us.  

Love,

Dad