We experienced a summer full of activities that offered many of our youth opportunities to grow spiritually. For the Strength of Youth week-long programs, Young Men’s and Young Women’s camp, and a High Adventure for the older youth offered ample opportunities for youth and leaders to focus on spiritual truths. Spiritual truths exist that are absolute and applicable now and in the eternities. President Russell M. Nelson teaches this in his May 2022 talk titled “Choices for Eternity.”
While helping to prepare a message for Young Men’s camp, I was immediately captivated by this talk, and I suggest reviewing it as a refresher on eternal perspectives from our Prophet.
Here are some of the highlights of that talk that especially impressed me. First, please ponder this question, If Jesus Christ were to visit you, what do you think would be the first thing He would want you to know?
President Nelson says, “I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly tonight, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity. My dear friends, you are literally spirit children of God.
You have sung this truth since you learned the words to ‘I Am a Child of God.’ But is that eternal truth imprinted upon your heart? Has this truth rescued you when confronted with temptation?”
President Nelson teaches that the identities we should prioritize are, first and foremost, that we are: 1) a son or daughter of God, 2) a child of the covenant as members of His Church, and 3) a disciple of Jesus Christ. While discussing these identities, he shares this insightful teaching, “The way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make.”
I fully agree with that claim. In our own self-talk, we need to be gentle and kind. It would be a blessing to us individually if we make a concerted effort not to criticize ourselves. Especially don’t make statements either to yourself or out loud stating “I am … “and then adding a critical self-deprecating term.
President Nelson pleads with us to keep these identities in the forefront of our minds. He says, “I plead with you not to replace these three paramount and unchanging identifiers with any others, because doing so could stymie your progress or pigeonhole you in a stereotype that could potentially thwart your eternal progression.”
My hope is that we can all ingrain in our minds our individual identities as a son or daughter of God, as a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Christ. With these thoughts, we can be positively affected in “almost every decision (we) will ever make.”
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