We Shall Be Like Him

In this recent general conference, President D. Todd Christofferson spoke about the character of Christ. He taught, “When we consider the character of the Savior, we tend to focus immediately on His attributes, such as virtue, integrity, humility, compassion, and courage, but we should also consider, What is it in Jesus that gives rise to such character traits? I believe they are the natural fruit of the thoughts, desires, and intents of His heart. Christlike character grows out of a Christlike heart. Thus, if we are to succeed in developing a Christlike character, we must possess His motivations—His thoughts, desires, and intents of the heart.” President Christofferson suggested three motives that inspire Christ’s character: charity, a passion to foster the happiness and advancement of others, and a devotion to the will of God. The first two are certainly related, and I think another way to describe them is a love for all of God’s children. And the third one could be restated as a love for God. And so, we might say that Christ’s motives are defined by the two great commandments that He taught: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). Nephi spoke of the Savior’s motivation of love in these terms: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation” (2 Nephi 26:24). He always acts out of love for the children of men. Jesus also described His motivation to do the will of the Father this way: “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). To the Nephites He described it in these words: “I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning” (3 Nephi 11:11). He always acts in accordance with the will of the Father and has from the beginning.

                And so, knowing what motivates the Savior should inspire us to develop those same motivations. President Christofferson summarized, “Jesus thinks and acts out of pure love; He yearns to bless and lift others; and He delights to do the will of God. With faith in Christ, we can pray that the Holy Spirit will effect a mighty change in us to instill these same divine motivations in our heart and help us practice the attributes of a Christlike character.” As we evaluate our own actions, we will likely conclude that they are often not motivated by a love for others or a desire to do God’s will. But we can pray that our hearts can be changed to become like those of the people of King Benjamin who declared, “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). We need that kind of change in ourselves to “do good continually,” which is surely the same thing as always doing the will of the Father. President Christofferson suggested that “for most of us, our mighty change of heart occurs incrementally over time” and that we need “the grace of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost” for it to take place. Undoubtedly this is a lifelong endeavor to cultivate our hearts and our desires to become like His, but Mormon has promised that with the Lord’s help we can ultimately get there: “Brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love… that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:48).