Lift Others to Develop Christlike Attribute of Confidence, Elder Bangerter Teaches

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

Elder Steven R. Bangerter spoke to BYU–Idaho students on Saturday, September 21, about developing confidence — but not the kind that comes from excelling in academia or that the world thinks comes from success.

“Rather, I speak of a quiet, peaceful assurance that wells up from within and is quicker to raise up others around you than it is to directly raise yourself up,” Elder Bangerter said. “It is confidence grounded in moral principles and values that cause you to look outward, more than to look inward, to look for how you might lift others, instead of endlessly searching for how others can lift you.”

Thousands of students gathered in the BYU–I Center on the Rexburg, Idaho, campus for the Saturday evening devotional with Elder Bangerter, a General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the Church’s North America Central Area, and his wife, Susan.

In remarks titled “Believe in Yourself as a Child of God and Your Capacity to Lift Others,” Elder Bangerter explained that the confidence he was speaking about is a Christlike attribute that is “revealed by the Holy Spirit and has its origin in God, our Heavenly Father — the Father of our spirits.”

‘I Am a Child of God’

The intimate experience of how the Holy Ghost reveals the close, familial connection between God and His children can occur in unanticipated ways, Elder Bangerter noted.

He then shared an experience he had in college where a professor unexpectedly called on him to defend a paper he had written about Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

“That day, in that moment a calming sense of peace washed over me, filled my mind, calmed my pounding heart and informed my witness that day,” Elder Bangerter recalled.

Because he spoke from a position of truth, Elder Bangerter said, the Holy Ghost accompanied his words and filled “my whole soul and did reveal what it means to know I am a child of God.”

The Source of Confidence

The Lord taught Joseph Smith, “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45).

Said Elder Bangerter: “It is in the private times of our lives, in the private recesses of our thoughts where confidence is borne of the Spirit as a blessing from God. As a blessing received through the power of the Holy Ghost, confidence is granted in return for our obedience.”

Thoughts that are morally clean, honest and filled with integrity are among those that will produce confidence. Elder Bangerter, however, focused specifically on thoughts that lift others.

“We live in a competitive world … sometimes referred to as a ‘dog-eat-dog’ existence,” Elder Bangerter said.

Corner offices, fancy clothes, expensive cars, higher positions or titles, and big expense accounts are often used to cover an inner longing for lasting peace and enduring joy, he said. However, the lasting peace and enduring joy at the foundation of real confidence comes as individuals recognize and embrace their divine heritage as children of God.

Elder Bangerter promised listeners that as they endeavor to lift others, those efforts will lift them. “Learning to look outward toward lifting burdens … will be like freeing yourselves from chains of excessive introspection that sometimes consumes our lives.”

Instead of looking at others as rungs on a ladder to step on to raise one’s self to higher ground, “search for ways to be the one who lifts others to higher ground,” Elder Bangerter encouraged, adding, “This is God’s pattern.”

In conclusion, he testified, “Because we are children of God, He loves us, and He desires to bless us.”

Among the “precious, comforting blessings” God bestows is the Christlike attribute of confidence — “an attribute He will bless you with through His grace and almighty power as you look outside yourself and strive to lift the lives of others around you.”

‘The Savior Knows You and Loves You’

A few years ago, Sister Bangerter received a phone call from her father, whom she had rarely heard from over the last 50 years.

When she was 7 years old, Sister Bangerter recalled, her father left her, her mother and four brothers.

Needing help, her mother moved to Salt Lake City to live near family. Through the years they were blessed with wonderful ward members, youth leaders and bishops to “care for and love us,” Sister Bangerter said.

When she answered the phone that day, Sister Bangerter was surprised when her dad revealed that he was going to be baptized and become a member of the Church.

After he was baptized at 90 years old, her father moved to Utah to live with her brother and be closer to her and her family. He often apologized for missing out on their lives. One day, after listening to his apology, Sister Bangerter told him, “Dad, thank you for your apology. You need to understand that our Heavenly Father has always known you and me, and when you were not there to take care of me, He took care of me. He gave Mom the strength she needed to care and provide for us. I forgave you so long ago. Our Savior has too. He has always known you, Dad. He loves you, and so do we.”

Sister Bangerter then testified, “The gospel of Jesus Christ can change a man. I testify that it can and will.”

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