The Young Women theme begins, “I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny.” This statement contains four important truths. First, you are a beloved daughter. Nothing you do—or do not do—can change that. God loves you because you are His spirit daughter. Sometimes we may not feel His love, but it is always there. God’s love is perfect. Our ability to sense that love is not.
We will feel more secure when we can learn to trust in His love even when we are not feeling it.
Similarly, our sense of God’s love may be blunted by challenging circumstances and physical or mental illness, among other things. In all these cases, the counsel of trusted leaders or professionals can often be beneficial. We can also try to improve our receptivity to God’s love by asking ourselves, “Is my love for God constant, or do I love Him when I have good days but not so much when I have bad days?”
As I was saying.
The second truth is that we have heavenly parents, a father and a mother. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother comes by revelation and is a distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints. President Dallin H. Oaks explained the importance of this truth: “Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.”
Very little has been revealed about Mother in Heaven, but what we do know is summarized in a gospel topic found in our Gospel Library application. Once you have read what is there, you will know everything that I know about the subject. I wish I knew more. You too may still have questions and want to find more answers. Seeking greater understanding is an important part of our spiritual development, but please be cautious. Reason cannot replace revelation.
Speculation will not lead to greater spiritual knowledge, but it can lead us to deception or divert our focus from what has been revealed. For example, the Savior taught His disciples, “Always pray unto the Father in my name.” We follow this pattern and direct our worship to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ and do not pray to Heavenly Mother.
Speculation isn’t bad as long as we are careful to distinguish between what is known and what we speculate and as long as we don’t give weight to what we speculate.
The third truth in the opening paragraph of the Young Women theme is that we have “a divine nature.” This is intrinsic to who we are. It is spiritually “genetic,” inherited from our heavenly parents, and requires no effort on our part. This is our most important identity, regardless of how else we choose to identify ourselves. Understanding this profound truth is important for everyone but especially for individuals belonging to groups who have been historically marginalized, oppressed, or subjugated. Remember that your most important identity relates to your divine nature as a child of God.
This is why it is more valuable for us to work to understand our intrinsic nature than it is to convince others to treat us contrary to that intrinsic nature.
The fourth truth is that we have an “eternal destiny.” Such a destiny will not be forced on us. After death, we will receive what we have qualified for and “enjoy [only] that which [we] are willing to receive.” Realizing our eternal destiny is dependent on our choices. It requires making and keeping sacred covenants. This covenant path is the way we come unto Christ and is based on absolute truth and eternal, unchanging law. We cannot create our own path and expect God’s promised outcomes. To expect His blessings while not following the eternal laws upon which they are predicated is misguided, like thinking we can touch a hot stove and “decide” not to be burned.
…We are free to choose, but we cannot choose the consequences of not following the revealed path. … We cannot deviate from Heavenly Father’s course and then blame Him for inferior outcomes.
We aren’t qualified to complain that the consequences should be different than what they have been revealed to be.
The Young Women theme continues, “I will stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places.” All members of the Church are needed as witnesses of God, although Apostles and Seventies are commissioned as special witnesses of the name of Christ. Imagine a soccer match in which only the goalie protects the goal. Without the help of the other team players, the goalie will not be able to adequately defend the goal, and the team will always lose. So too, everyone is needed on the Lord’s team.
The final paragraph of the Young Women theme begins, “As I strive to qualify for exaltation, I cherish the gift of repentance and seek to improve each day.” Because of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice, we can repent, learn from our mistakes, and not be condemned by them. President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Too many people consider repentance as punishment. … But this feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking to Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.”
The same is true with consequences. We often think of them as punishments even though I’m most cases they are simply outcomes of circumstances, not deliberate efforts aimed to punish us.
When we sincerely repent, no spiritual scar remains, no matter what we have done, how serious it was, or how many times we repeated it. As often as we repent and seek forgiveness with real intent, we can be forgiven. What a remarkable gift from our Savior, Jesus Christ!
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. 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. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
He can’t offer or promise more because there is nothing more to be had.
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