"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48)

I made a valentine for the love of my life, Jeffrey, my awesome husband. I made him a little heart that read: "To Jeffrey: There are many "Reese's" why I love you! Let me write just a few". (Jeff loves Reese's peanut butter cups).

As I wrote down the reason's why I love Jeff, I realized that I didn't list any physical qualities that I love about him such as his gorgeous brown eyes, or his graying red hair and beard, or his fantastic laugh, or the fact that we always joke about me being taller than he is. I realized that all the reasons I had written are eternal qualities, or better said, Christlike attributes that he possess. He is "faithful, dedicated, diligent, good, brave, tender, full of integrity, generous, kind, positive, an amazing father, a wonderful husband, an incredible lover, funny, believing, intelligent, content".

As I ponder these Christlike attributes, I realize that these are the "divine nature" of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4). We are told by Christ: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48; see also 3 Nephi 12:38). Perfect in this sense means "complete, finished, fully developed" (Matthew 5:48 footnote 48b). He wants us to become like Him. Christ's attributes don't change with the day to day stresses, or with age, time, or even politics. Nope. "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in Him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing" (Mormon 9:9). We can completely rely upon His character being constant-because He is constant and unchanging.

In a time when character traits seem to change with whatever crowd, location, or ideas one is associating with, I am grateful that we have a perfect example to follow, even Jesus Christ. We all need help in developing Christlike qualities. Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this about developing Christlike attributes: "The one help we all need is given to us freely through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement means relying completely on Him-trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. Christlike attributes come into our lives as we exercise our agency righteously. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to action. When we have faith in Christ, we trust in the Lord enough to follow His commandments-even when we do not completely understand the reasons for them. In seeking to become more like the Savior, we need to reevaluate our lives regularly and rely, through the path of true repentance, upon the merits of Jesus Christ and the blessings of the Atonement" (Developing Christlike Attributes).

I am grateful to be married to a Christlike man. I know he isn't perfect and neither am I. (I have way to much to work on and develop in myself to worry about other people's shortcomings.) I testify that through reevaluating our lives, trying, repenting, doing, and following Christ,we can develop attributes that help us become "complete, finished, fully developed", even "perfect" as Christ would have us become.

Me and Jeff...the "perfect" couple...at least for each other. (Note: this is not an accurate portrayal of our height)

This is when I rode in a relay ride called "Salt to Saint". Jeff was the most awesome and perfect support driver, muscle, encouragement, and everything else! (definitely closer to our actual height in this photo)  

This is closer to our true heights...I am 2" taller than he is, and closer to 4" when I am wearing my shoes. He's the "perfect" height for me.