Identity and Purpose

I've felt impressed lately concerning the importance of learning, remembering, and acting commensurately upon my true identity and purpose in life. I've found that it totally changes the way I think, act and feel. I'm happier as I do so.

I've drawn upon The Family: A Proclamation to the World, the scriptures, and other sources to come up with the following two graphics, which we've printed and mounted in our ward 3rd-hour meetings.

Although these graphics were made for an LDS audience, I suspect everyone could find some direction in them - especially in the first identity statement, whereas that applies to everyone.

Here's a great quote that pretty much sums up my feelings:

“You are all the sons and daughters of God. Your spirits were created and lived as organized intelligences before the world was. You have been blessed to have a physical body because of your obedience to certain commandments in that premortal state. You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come. … 

“I would charge you to say again and again to yourselves, as the Primary organization has taught the children to sing ‘I am a [son or daughter] of God’ and by so doing, begin today to live closer to those ideals which will make your life happier and more fruitful because of an awakened realization of who you are.” 

Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, Oct. 1973

Identity and Purpose (for LDS males)

Identity and Purpose (for LDS females)

"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is Increasingly Apropos

Check out the wonderful video in the link below. It's great. I've also pasted the proclamation's text below. I believe it to be truly God's wisdom.

http://www.lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/proclamation-on-family-is-still-a-clarion-call?lang=eng

The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. "Children are an heritage of the Lord" (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Keeping in God's Name

This weekend in my scripture reading, I came across the following three passages that have inspired me in my parenting, hometeaching and other calling-related responsibilities and efforts. I hope they might be helpful to you as well.

In John 17, we read Christ's prayer to his Father, shortly before his sufferings. In his prayer, among other things, he makes a report concerning his work in relation to his stewardship. He prayed, as recorded in verse 12: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost."

Question: What does it mean to "(keep someone) in (God's) name?"

I found this verse in 1 Timothy, chapter 4 verse 6: "If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained."

I found this statement in the Bible Dictionary, under the title of prayer:

Christians are taught to pray in Christ’s name (John 14:13–14; 15:7, 16; 16:23–24). We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ—when his words abide in us (John 15:7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent his mind, but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart.

In John 15 Christ teaches the apostles how to "remain" and how to not wither as figurative branches cut off from their root vine. In verse 7 he admonishes them to allow "my words abide in you."

A few weeks ago I became intrigued with a radio program on mormonchannel.org, called The Light of Men. It's a dramatized representation of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. There are 11 30-minute episodes, and I got hooked. I listened to one a day, sometimes more. I loved hearing the words of the Savior in their context.

Looking back on that two-week period, I can tell that I felt differently then. I felt wiser, more sober, more enlightened, more compassionate. While those words were fresh in my mind, I suppose I might say, I felt like I more fully possessed what the Bible Dictionary passage above refers to as the "mind of Christ." It was awesome.

So what can I do, then, as a father, hometeacher or bishop to help "(keep someone) in (God's) name?" It seems that one of the main things I can do is to keep those I serve in remembrance of the words of Christ. When those words are fresh in our minds we are connected to the vine. We are "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine." Our prayers are more efficacious. Our minds are more filled with truth. Our hearts are more filled with love. Our lives are more filled with service.

If I can help those I serve do that, hopefully I can also one day report that "none of them is lost."