“Be your authentic self.”
“You do you.”
“Live your truth.”
These popular slogans can serve an important purpose: inspiring people to action while reminding us to respect our differences. But they can also stifle growth by giving us the false impression that we have already arrived—that we are already our “authentic selves.”
The Savior has a loftier vision of us and of our possibilities. In the middle of a prophecy about the turmoil that will precede His Second Coming, He counseled, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19). In 1833, He reissued and expanded on this counsel in a revelation to a group of church members who had been driven from their homes in Missouri:
Seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.
Doctrine and Covenants 101:38
Commenting on both of these passages, Elder Neal A. Maxwell asked, “Could it be … that only when our self-control becomes total do we come into the true possession of our souls?” (“Patience,” Brigham Young University Devotional Address, 27 November 1979).
I would guess that anyone who has struggled with a bad habit or has made a thoughtless error can relate. We are not yet in full possession of ourselves, but we want to be.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, our goal is to emulate Him, and that means that we must be willing to change. President Jeffery R. Holland captured this call to transformation in these words: “Come as you are, … [but] don’t plan to stay as you are” (“Songs, Sung and Unsung,” General Conference, April 2017).
After a mission to the Zoramites in which Shiblon performed admirably, his father Alma complimented him on his “steadiness and faithfulness.” He said, essentially, “Keep doing what you’re doing.” (See Alma 38:2.) But Shiblon had plenty of room to grow, and his father emphasized that point with this guidance:
See that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love;
Alma 38:12
Alma was grateful for Shiblon’s faithfulness, and he wanted Shiblon to continue on the path of discipleship and progression. His message wasn’t a license for complacency, but rather a call to press forward on his current path of self-discipline and personal growth.
Today, I will keep my eyes on the goal of becoming more like the Savior. I will recognize that my transformation won’t happen all at once, but I will have faith that with patience and by the grace of God, I will eventually possess my soul.
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