When you know and understand how completely you are loved as a child of God, it changes everything.

 When you know and understand how completely you are loved as a child of God, it changes everything. It changes the way you feel about yourself when you make mistakes. It changes how you feel when difficult things happen. It changes your view of God’s commandments. It changes your view of others and of your capacity to make a difference

God’s Love: The Most Joyous to the Soul

October 2021

It would encourage each of us to focus our opposition on actions rather than actors.

 When we understand our relationship to God, we also understand our relationship to one another. All men and women on this earth are the offspring of God, spirit brothers and sisters. What a powerful idea! No wonder God’s Only Begotten Son commanded us to love one another. If only we could do so! What a different world it would be if brotherly and sisterly love and unselfish assistance could transcend all boundaries of nation, creed, and color. Such love would not erase all differences of opinion and action, but it would encourage each of us to focus our opposition on actions rather than actors.

Powerful Ideas

October 1995

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1995/10/powerful-ideas?lang=eng&verse=#p

The Powerful Idea [that] Is A Potent Antidepressant

 Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song “I Am a Child of God” (Hymns, 1985, no. 301), sung so impressively by the choir at the beginning of this session. Here is the answer to one of life’s great questions, “Who am I?” I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents. That parentage defines our eternal potential. That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant. It can strengthen each of us to make righteous choices and to seek the best that is within us. Establish in the mind of a young person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God, and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life.

Powerful Ideas

October 1995

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1995/10/powerful-ideas?lang=eng&verse=#p

Wow, look at me! I am awesome! I am a child of God! He knows me! He loves me! I am gifted—gifted with the Holy Ghost as my constant companion!

I close with an invitation especially for all youth! Many of you start your day by standing in front of a mirror. Tomorrow, this week, this year, always, pause as you look at yourself in the mirror. Think to yourself, or say aloud if you like, “Wow, look at me! I am awesome! I am a child of God! He knows me! He loves me! I am gifted—gifted with the Holy Ghost as my constant companion!”

Promptings of the Spirit

October 2023

General Conference

Gary E. Stevenson

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/25stevenson?lang=eng&verse=#p

Our Heavenly Father wants you to become His heir and receive all that He has. He cannot offer you more. He cannot promise you more.

I invite you to center your life on Jesus Christ and remember the foundational truths in the Young Women theme. If you are willing, the Holy Ghost will guide you. Our Heavenly Father wants you to become His heir and receive all that He has.40 He cannot offer you more. He cannot promise you more. He loves you more than you know and wants you to be happy in this life and in the life to come.

Dale G. Renlund, April 2022 General Conference
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/36renlund?lang=eng

We can celebrate our individual uniqueness as children of God without using authenticity as an excuse for un-Christlike behavior.

 Some misuse authenticity as a celebration of the natural man and qualities that are the opposite of humility, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and civility. We can celebrate our individual uniqueness as children of God without using authenticity as an excuse for un-Christlike behavior.

The Eternal Everyday

October 2017

2010–2019

Quentin L. Cook

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/the-eternal-everyday?lang=eng&verse=#p

the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard

“While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring, and without any of those contracted feelings that influence the children of men, causes ‘His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.’ [Matthew 5:45.]”

Chapter 2: God the Eternal Father, Joseph Smith Teachings of Presidents

Your Body, Whatever Its Natural Gifts Is a Magnificent Creation of God

Your body, whatever its natural gifts, is a magnificent creation of God.3 It is a tabernacle of flesh—a temple for your spirit.4 A study of your body attests to its divine design.

Its formation begins with the union of two reproductive cells—one from the mother and one from the father. Together, these two cells contain all of the new individual’s hereditary information, stored in a space so small it cannot be seen by the naked eye. Twenty-three chromosomes from each parent unite in one new cell. These chromosomes contain thousands of genes which determine all of the physical characteristics of the unborn person. Approximately 22 days after these two cells unite, a little heart begins to beat. At 26 days, blood begins to circulate. Cells multiply and divide. Some become eyes that see; others become ears that hear.

Each organ is a wondrous gift from God. The eye has a self-focusing lens. Nerves and muscles control two separate eyes to make a single three-dimensional image. The eyes are connected to the brain, which records the sights seen. No cords or batteries are needed.

Each ear is connected to compact equipment designed to convert sound waves into audible tones. An eardrum serves as a diaphragm. Minute ossicles amplify sound vibrations and transmit a signal via nerves to the brain, which senses and remembers the sounds.

The heart is an incredible pump. It has four delicate valves that control the direction of blood flow. These valves open and close more than 100,000 times a day—36 million times a year. Yet, unless altered by disease, they are able to withstand this stress almost indefinitely. No man-made material developed to date can be flexed so frequently and so long without breaking.

Each day an adult heart pumps enough fluid to fill a 2,000-gallon5 tank. This work is equivalent to lifting a grown man6 to the top of the Empire State Building while expending only about four watts of energy. At the crest of the heart is an electrical generator that transmits energy down special lines, causing myriads of muscle fibers to work together.

Much could be said about each of the other precious organs in the body. They function in a marvelous manner, beyond my time or ability to describe.

We Are Children of God, Russell M. Nelson, General Conference October 1998

Your Miraculous Thumb

Your miraculous thumb is controlled by nine individual muscles and three major hand nerves. Sir Isaac Newton is reported to have said: “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.”2

Author: Douglas L. Callister
Title: Our God Truly Is God
Where: Ensign, Jan 2008, 64–68

Teach them their identity and their purpose.

“How can we help those struggling with [a personal challenge]?” an Apostle of the Lord instructed, “Teach them their identity and their purpose.”

These powerful truths were life-changing for my friend Jen, who as a teenager caused a serious car accident. Though her physical trauma was severe, she felt exquisite pain because the other driver lost her life. “Someone lost their mom, and it was my fault,” she says. Jen, who just days before stood and recited, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us,” now questioned, “How could He love me?”

“The physical suffering passed,” she says, “but I didn’t think I would ever heal from the emotional and spiritual wounds.”

In order to survive, Jen hid her feelings deeply, becoming distant and numb. After a year, when she was finally able to talk about the accident, an inspired counselor invited her to write the phrase “I am a child of God” and say it 10 times daily.

“Writing the words was easy,” she recalls, “but I couldn’t speak them. … That made it real, and I didn’t really believe God wanted me as His child. I would curl up and cry.”

After several months, Jen was finally able to complete the task every day. “I poured out my whole soul,” she says, “pleading with God. … Then I began to believe the words.” This belief allowed the Savior to begin mending her wounded soul. The Book of Mormon brought comfort and courage in His Atonement.

“Christ felt my pains, my sorrows, my guilt,” Jen concludes. “I felt God’s pure love and had never experienced anything so powerful! Knowing I am a child of God is the most powerful knowledge I possess!”

Am I a Child of God?, April 2018, General Conference Brian K. Taylor

When we know, our lives take on a sense of purpose so stunning that we can never be the same again

Recently, my 16-year-old niece Megan and two of her friends came for a sleepover. As we talked that evening, one of them asked me what it had been like growing up on a farm in the olden days. … I told Megan and her friends that in the “olden days,” I had been painfully shy and had absolutely no self-confidence.

“How did you get over feeling that way?” Megan asked. A pat answer was on the tip of my tongue when I stopped, sensing that these terrific young women were receptive to more. So I told them that the reason was a spiritual one: It wasn’t until I began to understand how the Lord felt about me that my feelings about myself and my life slowly began to change. Their questions then came in a hurry: How did I know how the Lord felt? And how could they find out how He felt about them?

For several hours, scriptures in hand, we talked about how to hear the voice of the Spirit, about how eager the Lord is to unveil the knowledge stored safely inside our spirits concerning who we are and what our mission is, and about the life-changing difference it makes when we know.

… There is nothing more vital to our success and our happiness here than learning to hear the voice of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who reveals to us our identity—which isn’t just who we are but who we have always been. And that when we know, our lives take on a sense of purpose so stunning that we can never be the same again.

… Our spirits long for us to remember the truth about who we are, because the way we see ourselves, our sense of identity, affects everything we do. … It affects the very way we live our lives. So, today, I invite you to ponder in a new way not just who you are but who you have always been.

… Can you imagine that God, who knew us perfectly, reserved us to come now, when the stakes would be higher and the opposition more intense than ever? When He would need women who would help raise and lead a chosen generation in the most lethal spiritual environment? Can you imagine that He chose us because He knew we would be fearless in building Zion?

… Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are, and that is who you have always been. Understanding that truth can change your life, because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way.

… When you understand that you were chosen and reserved for now, and when you live in harmony with that mission, you’ll be happier than you have ever been before.

… God is our Father, and His Only Begotten Son is the Christ. May we rejoice in once again standing tall for the Savior and serving with valor and vigor in His vineyard. And may we be fearless in building up the Zion of our God—because we know who we are and who we have always been.

Knowing Who You Are—and Who You Have Always Been, July 2018, EnsignSheri L. Dew

Desecrating our Body is Desecrating our Divine Nature

Our divine nature has nothing to do with our personal accomplishments, the status we achieve, the number of marathons we run, or our popularity and self-esteem. Our divine nature comes from God. It was established in an existence that preceded our birth and will continue on into eternity.


Discovering the Divinity Within, Rosemary M. Wixom, October 2015 General Conference

Since He Is Our Father, He Naturally Desires to Raise Us Up

The image of a loving, forgiving God comes through clearly to those who read and understand the
scriptures. Since he is our Father, he naturally desires to raise us up, not to push us down, to help us
live, not to bring about our spiritual death. "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth," he has said, "wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." ( Ezek. 18:32 .)

The Miracle of Forgiveness, Chapter 23 God Will Forgive, Spencer W. Kimball

We Are Not Made for Endings

In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.

GRATEFUL IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2014

His Noble Sons Extend Their Wrists to Accept the Chains of Devastating Addicitons

It saddens our Heavenly Father to see how willingly some of His noble sons extend their wrists to accept the chains of devastating addictions.

Brethren, we bear the eternal priesthood of Almighty God. We are truly sons of the Most High and are endowed with unspeakable potential. We are designed to soar freely through the heavens. We are not meant to be shackled to the earth, imprisoned in straitjackets of our own making.
ARE YOU SLEEPING THROUGH THE RESTORATION? By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2014

His Love Is Such That Even Should We Give Up On Ourselves, He Never Will

His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Title: The Way of the Disciple
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 75–78

A Lack of Confidence in One's Self or Abilities Is Inconssistent With Our Divine Identity

[A] lack of confidence in one’s self or abilities. It is inconsistent with our divine identity as children of God.
Author: Kevin W. Pearson
Title: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 38–40