pgs. 432 and 433...I would that ye should be perfect, even as I, or our Father who is in heaven is perfect.

18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle ^ahath not passed away from the ^blaw, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.

  19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a ^abroken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the ^blaw is fulfilled.

  20 Therefore ^acome unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my ^bcommandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

  21 Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shalt not ^akill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God;

  22 But I say unto you, that whosoever is ^aangry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

  23 Therefore, ^aif ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee—

  24 Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be ^areconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full ^bpurpose of heart, and I will receive you.

  25 ^aAgree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time he shall get thee, and thou shalt be cast into prison.

  26 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost senine. And while ye are in prison can ye pay even one ^asenine? Verily, verily, I say unto you, Nay.

  27 Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit ^aadultery;

  28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to ^alust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart.

  29 Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer ^anone of these things to enter into your ^bheart;

  30 For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your ^across, than that ye should be cast into hell.

  31 It hath been written, that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of ^adivorcement.

  32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall ^aput away his wife, saving for the cause of ^bfornication, causeth her to commit ^cadultery; and whoso shall marry her who is divorced committeth adultery.

  33 And again it is written, thou shalt not ^aforswear thyself, but shalt ^bperform unto the Lord thine ^coaths;

  34 But verily, verily, I say unto you, ^aswear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

  35 Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;

  36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair black or white;

  37 But let your ^acommunication be ^bYea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil.

  38 And behold, it is written, an ^aeye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;

  39 But I say unto you, that ye shall not ^aresist evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right ^bcheek, ^cturn to him the other also;

  40 And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, ^alet him have thy cloak also;

  41 And whosoever shall compel thee to ^ago a mile, go with him twain.

  42 ^aGive to him that asketh thee, and from him that would ^bborrow of thee turn thou not away.

  43 And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy;

  44 But behold I say unto you, love your ^aenemies, bless them that curse you, do ^bgood to them that hate you, and ^cpray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;

  45 That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise ^aon the evil and on the good.

  46 Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all ^afulfilled.

  47 ^aOld things are done away, and all things have become ^bnew.

  48 Therefore I would that ye should be ^aperfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 13

Jesus teaches the Nephites the Lord’s Prayer—They are to lay up treasures in heaven—The Twelve in their ministry are commanded to take no thought for temporal things—Compare Matthew 6. [A.D. 34]

  1 ^aVerily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.

  2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have ^aglory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

  3 But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;

  4 That thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

  5 And when thou ^aprayest thou shalt not do as the ^bhypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

In verse 38 of chapter 12 the Savior explains to the Nephites that he would like them to be perfect.  I would like to elaborate on what I take the word "perfect" to mean.  There is an important difference in what He says here and what He said in Matthew 5 where it reads, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."  In today's reading He includes Himself as perfect because He now has a resurrected body.  When He gave the Sermon on the Mount He did not.  This leads me to believe His saying He "would that we should be perfect" means that He wants us to fulfill our potential to earn perfect resurrected bodies as our Father in Heaven has always had and as He received after His resurrection.  

Many of us in the world today are known as "perfectionists."  Some people even wear that label as if it were a blue ribbon!  Even though it is important to always try our best to live the commandments, no one will ever be 100% successful at it.  There is no perfect person on the earth today.  I mention this because it is so easy to become too hard on ourselves or others if we/they are not perfect YET.  Being perfect will take patience.  Infact, we learn from our mother Eve that in order to become perfect someday we must go through an imperfect stage here on earth.