The following was first published in the Mormonism Researched in September/October 2025. This is a free publication produced by Mormonism Research Ministry. To get a free subscription of the bimonthly newsletter, visit the website here.
Dr. W. Justin Dyer is a professor of religious education at Brigham Young University who wrote an article in 2024 for BYU Studies (63:4) titled “Are Latter-day Saints Perfectionist?” In his opening paragraph he noted:
A while back, I was sitting in a university meeting at the beginning of another school year. A therapist was facilitating a helpful discussion on the growing concern of student mental health. When toxic perfectionism came up, the facilitator mentioned in an offhanded way that we have a particular problem with this at Brigham Young University (BYU) because of “the gospel.” This statement was not much of a surprise given the seemingly common attitude that BYU students (and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in general) struggle with perfectionism.
“Some scholars,” Dyer went on write, “have even suggested Latter-day Saints struggle more with perfectionism than those of other faiths.” He went on to explain:
Paul L. Hewitt, Gordon L. Flett, and Samuel F. Mikail (arguably the preeminent scholars of perfectionism) claimed: “[Toxic] perfectionism . . . [is] a general societal pressure to be perfect, such as the collective social pressures to be perfect that have been identified in descriptions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In another instance Flett and Hewitt wrote: “It is generally accepted that perfectionism is elevated and highly salient among community members of Mormon faith in Utah. Several media stories have highlighted the pressures to be perfect in a part of Utah and labeled this ‘toxic perfectionism.’”
Commenting on the above, Dyer stated,
These attitudes are seemingly hard to argue with. Latter-day Saints accept scriptures such as “be ye therefore perfect” (Matt. 5:48; 3 Ne. 12:28). It’s also hard to miss scriptures about fire and brimstone for those who do not obey the commandments (see Ps. 11:6; 2 Ne. 26:6; D&C 97:26). And our own experiences may even suggest that our religion contributes to an unhealthy perfectionism. Indeed, most, if not all, active Latter-day Saints have experienced stress over not measuring up while trying to accomplish all that is asked.
This seems to explain why the topic of perfectionism often comes up in articles and conference addresses aimed at LDS audiences. While I certainly empathize with members of the LDS faith who struggle with this inadequacy, I conclude that this often stems from a mixed message handed down to them from their leadership and unique LDS scriptures.
First of all, let’s tackle the reference to Matthew 5:48. When addressing the New Testament doctrine of grace, I cannot begin to count how many times I have had a member respond with the following: “Jesus said to ‘be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.’”
My usual response is to simply ask, “Well, are you perfect right now, as your Father in heaven is perfect?” I recall one member immediately saying, “No, no one is perfect!” Of course, this caused me to wonder why they thought that Matthew 5:48 was a good rebuttal when their understanding of the passage (however misguided) only condemned them.
Assuming incorrectly that Jesus used the word perfect as a reference to sinless perfection, many LDS leaders have misused Matthew 5:48 and led their followers to a false conclusion that causes a lot of unnecessary despair.
A classic example of this can be found in the 1969 book The Miracle of Forgiveness, one of very few publications mentioned by general authorities in general conference sessions as recommended reading. After citing Matthew 5:48, Kimball went on to say:
“Being perfect means to triumph over sin. This is a mandate from the Lord. He is just and wise and kind. He would never require anything from his children which was not for their benefit and which was not attainable. Perfection therefore is an achievable goal” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 208-209).
Further in the same book, Kimball stressed,
“In the context of the spirit of forgiveness, one good brother asked me, ‘Yes, that is what ought to be done, but how do you do it? Doesn’t that take a superman?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but we are commanded to be supermen. Said the Lord, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ (Matt. 5:48.) We are gods in embryo, and the Lord demands perfection of us’” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 286).
In a correlated manual titled Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, Mormonism’s eleventh president, also gave the impression that perfection is something a faithful member can achieve:
“Any member of the Church who is learning to live perfectly each of the laws that are in the kingdom is learning the way to become perfect. There is no member of this Church who cannot live the law, every law of the gospel perfectly” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, 2000, 33).
In another volume of that same series of manuals, members were told,
“With diligence, patience, and divine aid, we can obey the Lord’s command to be perfect” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2012, 95).
This is not to say that occasionally LDS leaders have noted that Jesus was not speaking of sinless perfection. For instance, in a conference message given in October 1995, 17th President Russell M. Nelson, then an apostle, stated,
In Matthew 5:48, the term perfect was translated from the Greek teleios, which means “complete.” Teleios is an adjective derived from the noun telos, which means “end.” The infinitive form of the verb is teleiono, which means “to reach a distant end, to be fully developed, to consummate, or to finish.” Please note that the word does not imply freedom from error; it implies achieving a distant objective. In fact, when writers of the Greek New Testament wished to describe perfection of behavior—precision or excellence of human effort—they did not employ a form of teleios; instead, they chose different words” (“Perfection Pending,” Ensign, November 1995, 86).
Latter-day Saints often equate perfection with the ability to keep all of the commandments. Since Jesus is equated with perfection because of his ability to live the Law perfectly, why shouldn’t a Latter-day Saints draw this conclusion? This being the case, how can Nelson’s aforementioned explanation bring comfort to members if they are expected to keep all of the commandments?
Speaking in conference in 2011, Nelson mentioned “people who pick commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. He then went on to say,
“Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. . . To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments.” (“Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign, May 2011, 34).
Henry B. Eyring, a member of the First Presidency, told a general conference audience in April 1998, “We promise as we take the sacrament to keep His commandments, all of them.” He then went on to cite J. Reuben Clark, also a member of the First Presidency, who
“warned us against being selective in what we will obey… just as we repent of all sin, not just a single sin, we pledge to keep all of the commandments. Hard as that sounds, it is uncomplicated” (“That We May Be One,” Ensign, May 1998, 67-68).
I recently had a very pleasant conversation with a sister missionary in the silver-domed Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square. She told me that she had been a member of the LDS Church her whole life, yet when I asked her if she had the assurance that all of her sins were forgiven, her response to me was that “I’m not perfect.”
An answer like this tends to tell me that the high demand for commandment keeping (hence, personal perfection) is a concept that is very much alive among members of the LDS Church, despite an occasional proper exegesis of Matthew 5:48. Only Christ’s imputed righteousness allows us to meet the necessary standard of perfection that is needed for salvation.