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By Kaitlyn Bancroft, Church News
During a Churchwide young adult devotional in May 2022, President Russell M. Nelson taught the significance of labels and identifiers, and he emphasized the importance of spiritual designations over any other.
A new video from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titled “Know Who You Are” weaves counsel from President Nelson’s devotional with thoughts and testimonies from young adults in New York City.
The video, released September 5, is part of the celebrations leading up to President Nelson’s 100th birthday on September 9.
“No identifier should displace, replace or take priority over these three enduring designations: child of God, child of the covenant and disciple of Jesus Christ,” President Nelson is heard saying in the video.
He continues: “As the Lord’s Prophet, I bless you to know the truth about who you are. I promise that you will experience spiritual growth, freedom from fear and a confidence that you can scarcely imagine now. You will have the strength to have a positive influence far beyond your natural capacity, and I promise that your future will be more exhilarating than anything you can presently believe.”
Throughout the video, multiple young adults express gratitude for the reality that they are children of God and share how this truth shapes their lives.
One woman says focusing on the label “sons and daughters of heavenly parents” helps her remember she belongs to a community of everyone around her.
A man adds, “When you realize who you are and who everybody else around you is, ... I think it allows you to give grace to people [for] why they do certain things.”
Another man says knowing he’s a child of God gives him purpose, direction and sense of meaning in life.
And one woman becomes emotional as she shares that remembering she’s a daughter of God “brings me back to realizing that I’m not alone in this.”
May 2022 Devotional
President Nelson’s message about labels and identifiers was broadcast worldwide to young adults on May 15, 2022.
Addressing a capacity crowd in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, with thousands more watching from overflow areas on Temple Square and hundreds of thousands more watching online, President Nelson said righteous choices in mortality will pay unimaginable dividends eternally.
“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,” President Nelson testified.
He said young adulthood is a “singular” time, with no other phases in life quite like it. Young adults are establishing priorities and patterns that will “dramatically” affect not just their mortal lives but their eternal lives as well.
That’s why no identifier should “displace, replace or take priority over these three enduring designations: child of God, child of the covenant and disciple of Jesus Christ,” President Nelson said.
He continued that replacing these labels with any others can stymie progress and thwart eternal progression by pigeonholing people into stereotypes.
Russell M. Nelson
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks during the Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Photo by Mengshin Lin, courtesy of Church News.Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.Labeling is universally limiting, he said. Labels divide and restrict the way people think about themselves and each other. Labels can also lead to judging and animosity, abuse or prejudice — which is all offensive to God.
President Nelson clarified that other designations can be significant; for instance, his own important identifiers include his “honored” titles of husband and father, as well as other labels like medical doctor, surgeon, researcher, professor, lieutenant, captain, Ph.D. and American.
But labels and identifiers, even when positive, can be of unequal value and change with the passage of time, he taught.
And any identifier not compatible with “child of God,” “child of the covenant” and “disciple of Jesus Christ” will ultimately disappoint and let a person down, because it does not have the power to lead to eternal life and the celestial kingdom, President Nelson said.
Worldly identifiers will never affirm divine DNA and divine potential, and if they replace the most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating, he continued.
“Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become,” President Nelson said.
Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.