Moroni - Chapter 5

I grew up in the Church, thinking God expected me to be perfect.  I would go to Sacrament Meeting every week and examine myself for perfection.  If I considered myself not perfect I would refrain from partaking.  Now, my idea of perfection was pretty shallow.  Perfection meant not swearing, drinking coffee tea or alcohol, and not using tobacco.  Perfection meant paying a full tithe and keeping the Sabbath day holy.  And it mean not telling lies and not having sex out of wedlock.  That was about it.  Even that narrow view of perfection living kept me from partaking of the emblems of the Atonement many a Sunday.

How did it go right over my head that the very fact that the Sacrament was presented to me on a weekly basis for my entirely life meant that I would need to renew my Baptismal covenant for, yes, my entire life.  The Sacrament is the strongest indicator of all that we are not perfect and that we are not expected to attain perfection in our lifetimes.  It is also a prime indicator that we will not attain to perfection on our own.  We require the companionship of the Holy Ghost to gain access to the Atonement and only through continued repentance and repeated renewal of our covenants is that accomplished.

So, who is worthy to partake of the Sacrament?  I believe it is he who desires to keep the commandments, but fails and needs a way, through repentance, to carry on and continue to try.  The person who is unworthy to partake, is he who would have God rescind the commandments so he can live as he pleases.  He and those who've, by church action, have been denied the privilege.