As a little backdrop to the rest of this article, I want to start with something long before we ever came to this place we call Earth. As we learn from both ancient and modern revelation, we once lived as spirit beings patterned after that of our Eternal Father, yet lacking the corporeal attributes our Exalted Parent enjoyed. He, in His incomprehensible love, desired to allow us the opportunity to enjoy the very same blessings and bliss as Himself. So, He proposed a plan in a grand council for this to be brought about. Part of that plan included temporary absence of our premortal knowledge. Because of that, we would make choices based on faith and feeling, rather than memories. This was necessary to prove our characters. Jesus Christ, our elder brother, willingly volunteered to fill the role of Savior, which included living a sinless life and enduring suffering He never deserved, in order to relinquish us of our shortcomings. Lucifer, in his pride, opposed the plan presented by God and convinced one-third of all our Father's children to do the same. These were cast out from heaven, never to enjoy the blessings the rest of us will. Eventually, we each had the opportunity to enter this mortal existence.
During life, we face many influences. Some are good and some are not so good. We are born with something called the light of Christ, which helps us differentiate between right and wrong. Our family, our friends, our enemies, the things that surround us from day to day, they all have some affect on how we make choices and what we let graduate from thought to action. Yet, at the same time, we are influenced by other forces. Heavenly Father, the Holy Ghost and those that assist in the work of God from the spiritual realm are influencing us to make righteous choices. Satan, and those that chose his unending path of misery, are constantly trying to dissuade us from those better choices and carefully lead us to a more bitter end than we might otherwise reach. Because of the diversity of influences we face, all but Christ have stained their lives with some degree of impurity. Any impurity invalidates us from the opportunity of returning to live with our Almighty Maker. However, He provided a way for that to happen.
Jesus Christ performed what no imperfect being ever could. He satisfied the law of justice and made mercy accessible to those that would choose to take advantage of it. He did far more for us than we will understand in this life. He atoned for the sins of every one of us. Because of Him, we will be forgiven of every wrong we repent of. Repentance means to change. This means we must change who we are to be the type of person that will not commit the sin we were guilty of. So long as we satisfy this, and make any necessary repairs, the atonement of Christ will cover those mistakes.
So, if we sin, as we all do, then truly repent, should we receive a lower blessing than one who never had committed those transgressions? The Lord tells us: "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." (D&C 58:42) Now, it seems to me that a perfect, all-knowing being would still remember something we did. However, in his perfect refinement, He will treat us as though we were never guilty of our wrong-doings. He can perfectly overlook the imperfections we have removed from ourselves. So, if He truly overlooks those things, why would we gain any less blessing than if we never had done wrong? That's simply not the case. He views us as we are and for what we have the potential to become, not as we were.
Now, if our Divine Example has commanded us to be like Him (Matthew 5:48), we must come to view others through His eyes. We must learn to see others for, not what they were, but who they are and what they have the potential to become. We must exercise the same mercy that He so constantly exercises upon us. We must strive to love others with our best effort to mimic our Father's incomprehensible love toward us.
With this in mind, I hope you will strive to treat others in a manner expressing those attributes perfectly demonstrated by our Grand Exemplar, Jesus Christ, during His mortal life.
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