I Am a Child of God

I Am a Child of God

Noble Ward

May 15, 2015

Who are you?  How do you identify yourself?

Several week ago, my wife and I went to a movie.  I noticed that there was a Senior discount offered so I asked the lady in the ticket booth what the qualifications were for the Senior discount.  She said it was for those that were 65 or older.  I didn't qualify on that basis, but I told her that I felt like a Senior and identified myself as a Senior.  She promptly gave me the Senior discount...and my wife, who does not identify as a Senior.

We identify ourselves in different ways.  Before my recent retirement, my job title at the large mining company that I worked for was "Business Manager of Financial Shared Services and Global Business Continuity."  Nobody really understood much of what that meant so whenever anyone asked me my profession, I just said that I was an Accountant.  I recently updated my profile on the LinkedIn to describe what I currently do.  It reads "Tax Consultant, Spreadsheet Developer, Chicken Farmer, Pool boy, Gardener, Landscaper, Handyman, Genealogist, Indexer, Temple Patron, Taxi Driver, Grandpa, Book Reader, Accountant, Publicist, Volunteer, Gofer and Squirrel Trapper."

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom spoke in General Conference about this topic.  He said,

"Here on earth, we identify ourselves in many different ways, including our place of birth, our nationality, and our language. Some even identify themselves by their occupation or their hobby. These earthly identities are not wrong unless they supersede or interfere with our eternal identity—that of being a son or a daughter of God."

I would like us to consider how important it is to identify ourselves as children of God and what that means to us.  How we live, and the choices we make.

One of my favorite TV programs is "Who do you think you Are?" This program follows famous people through the process of finding out about their ancestors.  They learn about who their ancestors are and about their ancestor's life experiences.  They often learn about the trials and hardships that their ancestors had to endure. By learning about their ancestors, they always state that they know more about themselves than before and that the experience has changed their lives.

Elder Hallstrom talked about the importance of knowing who we are.

"A correct understanding of our heavenly heritage is essential to exaltation. It is foundational to comprehending the glorious plan of salvation and to nurturing faith in the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus the Christ, and in His merciful Atonement.⁷ Further, it provides continual motivation for us to make and keep our indispensable eternal covenants."

"In real life, we face actual, not imagined, hardships. There is pain—physical, emotional, and spiritual. There are heartbreaks when circumstances are very different from what we had anticipated. There is injustice when we do not seem to deserve our situation. There are disappointments when someone we trusted failed us. There are health and financial setbacks that can be disorienting. There may be times of question when a matter of doctrine or history is beyond our current understanding.

We live in a world that can cause us to forget who we really are. The more distractions that surround us, the easier it is to treat casually, then ignore, and then forget our connection with God."

Knowing that we are children of God can give us confidence that he knows us personally and that he cares about us and would like to hear from us.  I've always been impressed as Joseph Smith recorded his experience in the Sacred Grove, that when he called upon God, in prayer, and received his vision of the Father and the Son, that the Father "called him by name."  He knew Joseph's name, and he knows ours.

My mother lives in Utah.  Each Sunday, if I haven't spoken to her during the week, she expects me to call her to check in.  In fact, I've learned from experience that when I don't call her, she's disappointed and I hear about it later.  She wants to hear from me because I am her child.  She loves me.

In the same way, being children of our Heavenly Father should affect the way that we pray to Him and how we spend our time on the Sabbath day.  What message do we send to Him by our actions?

Do we remember that day and keep it Holy?  Do we rest from our labors?  Do we put away the cares of the world and dedicate the day to Him and His work?  Remembering that we are children of God will help us decide how to spend our Sabbath day.

Knowing that we are children of God helps us in this life because we know that he loves us, always, no matter what we do.  When we go through tough times he will be there for us. 

In Mosiah chapter 24 we read about the people of Alma who were going through tribulations  They had been captured by the Lamanites and subjected to hard work and labor.  They were even forbidden from praying.

But, the people of Alma knew that they were children of God.  They "did pour out their hearts to him and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions"

The result was that their burdens were made light, the Lord did strengthen them so that they could bear the burdens with ease.  And ultimately, he delivered them from bondage so they were able to join the Nephites in liberty.

Elder Halstrom asks us to consider, "When difficult things occur in our lives, what is our immediate response? Is it confusion or doubt or spiritual withdrawal? Is it a blow to our faith? Do we blame God or others for our circumstances? Or is our first response to remember who we are—that we are children of a loving God? Is that coupled with an absolute trust that He allows some earthly suffering because He knows it will bless us, like a refiner’s fire, to become like Him and to gain our eternal inheritance?"

Moses also learned of the significance of being a child of God.  We read in Moses 1

that " Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain, " And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.

And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?

And, behold, thou art my son"

Later on we learn that Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

"And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?

Blessed be the name of my God, for his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God; for God said unto me: Worship God, for him only shalt thou serve.

Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not"

Thus, like Moses, being children of God, we can distinguish truth from error.  We can judge between right and wrong and we can overcome temptations that might come our way.

Remembering that we are children of God can help us keep our covenants.  In the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon we read about the righteous King Benjamin, who called al of the people of his kingdom together as he was getting old and taught them from a tower that he had erected.

He taught them of the importance of work and of service to others and to care for the poor.  He taught them that we are continually indebted to God because he blesses us as we obey him.  He taught them of Jesus Christ and his suffering and that salvation comes because of the Atonement.

After he was finished speaking he asked them if they believed the words that he had spoken to them.  They all cried out with one voice that they did believe, and they know of the truthfulness of the words by the spirit, and that they had received a change of heart, and had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.

"And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days...
And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant.

And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters"

Like the people of King Benjamin's time, Remembering that we are children of our Heavenly Father can give us strength to keep the covenants that we have made.  It is those covenants that bind us to him.

President Thomas S. Monson testified: “We are sons and daughters of a living God. … We cannot sincerely hold this conviction without experiencing a profound new sense of strength and power."

I don't like to dwell on the negative, but for a brief moment, I'd like you to think back to the time that you felt most discouraged in your life.  It might be a time that you lost of loved one, or a time that you felt lonely, or a failure...or a time that a relationship didn't go as you expected or you were hurt by the actions of others.  Did you get through that time by remembering that you are a child of God?  In the future, you might have another time like that.  If you remember to identify yourself as a Child of God, that will give you strength to endure that time in your life.

One last quote from Elder Hallstrom:  "In today’s world, no matter where we live and no matter what our circumstances are, it is essential that our preeminent identity is as a child of God. Knowing that will allow our faith to flourish, will motivate our continual repentance, and will provide the strength to “be steadfast and immovable” throughout our mortal journey."

I testify that we are all children of God.  He cares about us and loves us.  May we always make that our preeminent identity in our lives.  May this knowledge help us to reach out to him, to receive strength through the trials that come in our life, and to help us keep the covenants that we have made with Him.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.