Technically, since we have free agency, we could live perfectly. We, technically, could choose all the right things and choose to not lose our patience and be kind and serve everyone and judge no one. The problem is that we don’t, from the start of each day, know everything that is right. Maybe we feel justified at the time for being disdainful towards someone, but then at the end of the day we are praying and the spirit prompts us to change our hearts and desires and realize we made a mistake and ask God to pardon our misstep. Learning. Experience. Growth. These things are why God does not ask us to be perfect. They are why He doesn’t ask us to get every principle of the Gospel exactly right, today. Because He knows our capabilities, that we wouldn’t always have knowledge of the right thing to do on the first, second, or third try, and that even if we did, we wouldn’t always choose it. Instead, all He asks is that we try to learn a little more, act a little more obediently on t
I often wonder, like probably any other latter-day saint, why we need commandments. They often feel like needless restrictions put in place just to test if I'm truly willing to do whatever God tells me to. Like, sure, I understand no killing or lying or stealing, but things like the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity feel like micromanagement of people's lives. But, if you read the scriptures, you will find many references to the nature of man. Yes, there are so many things that people do that are contrary to the commandments of God and yet they seem to be so happy. But these thoughts come from seeking to understand God by logic and not by faith, through the special lenses of the Spirit. When we put aside the logical, left-half of our brain and seek to understand the principles of the Gospel next to Christ, instead of across from Him, seeking a stance of opposition, we can see the world more clearly. But I believe that there are just some things that, despite what may