The Godhead

With the new curriculum, on the second and third Sundays, we will have “facilitated spiritual discussions” instead of Relief Society and Priesthood lessons. These discussions will come from the most recent general conference talks. Those talks will be chosen by the leadership of the ward to best suit the needs of its individual members. The blessings that will come to us as we study these talks and share what we learn are endless. There is greater potential to strengthen our testimonies and draw us closer to the Lord and to each other. Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President, said, “In our classes and quorums, we’ll help one another find ways to apply their counsel in our daily lives and then have the opportunity to share how we’ve been blessed from following that counsel. I love how this will help us learn from the Spirit as well as from one another.”1

With the change, it will be impossible to do blogs the same way I have done them in the past. Still wanting the opportunity to discuss what our leaders have said in the most recent general conference, and after a lot of thought and prayer, each month we will review what our leaders have most recently said on the doctrines being taught each month to the youth. In addition to the talks from general conference, I will share messages given by the prophets and apostles during devotionals. President Russell M. Nelson’s message to the members of the Church and also comments made by the newly-called First Presidency during the press conference on January 16th will also be used. I feel these can definitely be included in our studies of the current words of the prophets and apostles.

January’s doctrinal study is the Godhead. Think about it for a moment. I am certain this doctrine is chosen as the first study of the year intentionally. It is imperative that we understand who They are, what They do for us and who we are and who we can become because of Them. With that understanding, we can be armed with great power—power to bear our trials and withstand the attacks of the adversary. “From our faithful relationship with Them,” Neill F. Marriott states, “come godly knowledge, love, power and capacity to serve.”2

What do we know about the nature of the Godhead?

The First Article of Faith teaches, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”3 Jeffrey R. Holland once said, “There is no point in going on to the other truths we believe if we haven’t fixed in our minds … the preeminent role of the Godhead in our doctrine and in our eternal destiny. We are to know these Divine Beings in every way we can. We are to love Them, draw near to Them, obey Them, and try to be like Them.”4 What a glorious thing that we can know that God is our Heavenly Father. We can know that His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior. And we can know that the Holy Ghost will bear witness to us of these and other divine truths. The Holy Ghost can teach, comfort, warn, protects and guide each of us individually. Do we truly comprehend the magnificence of that? Quentin L. Cook said, “When we really contemplate God the Father and Christ the Son, who They are, and what They have accomplished on our behalf, it fills us with reverence, awe, gratitude, and humility.”5

How can I know my Heavenly Father?

We come to know our Heavenly Father by “learning of His truth through the scriptures, following prophetic counsel, and striving to do His will more completely.” Sister Marriott teaches, “We need to continually deepen our knowledge of and obedience to Heavenly Father. Our relationship with Him is eternal.” She suggests that only through accepting His invitation to draw near to Him will we be able to “enjoy the blessings He longs to give us in this life and in the world to come. … We are here on this earth to learn and grow, and the most important learning and growing will come from our covenant connection to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. … We must understand that God the Father directed His Son, Jesus Christ, to create the earth for our growth, that Heavenly Father gave His Son to pay the demands of justice for our salvation, and that the Father’s priesthood power and the Son’s true Church with the necessary ordinances were restored for our blessings.”2

Can we see how personally God loves us? When we more fully understand His love for us, we are more likely to feel a connection with Him. Sister Marriott continues, “We must make the connection with Him now to learn what really matters, to love as He loves, and to grow to be like Him. Our faithful relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior matters eternally to Them and to us.”

Even when, and maybe especially when, we are trying our hardest to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and come to know Him better, we will have challenges. We will have distractions and discouragements. Life is hard! Sister Marriott warns us, “We can lose our trusting connection to God if trials drive us to distraction instead of sending us to our knees.”2 Perhaps the greatest way we come to know our Heavenly Father is through prayer.

Why is Jesus Christ important in my life?

Sister Bingham reminds us that because of the Savior we can have joy, healing, peace and hope. She said, “Lasting joy is found in focusing on our Savior, Jesus Christ. … He is the source of healing. … Jesus Christ is also the source of peace. … Because of Jesus Christ’s Atonement, … we are able to repent, change, and progress eternally. Because of the power He gives us as we are obedient, we are able to become more than we ever could on our own. We may not understand completely how, but each of us who has felt faith in Christ increase has also received a greater understanding of our divine identity and purpose, leading us to make choices that are consistent with that knowledge. … As you center your life on Jesus Christ, you will find joy in your circumstances, whatever they may be. … Make time and take time to come to know Jesus Christ through studying diligently, developing greater faith in Him, and striving to become ever more like Him.”6

Just a few days ago, President Russell M. Nelson Nelson told us, “You can face the future with optimism and joy if you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”7

Consider this reason that Sister Marriott gives, “Christ has the power to bring us into loving fellowship with the Father and with one another. … Our sins and pride create a breach—or a gap—between us and the font of all love, our Heavenly Father. Only the Savior’s Atonement can cleanse us of our sins and close that gap or breach.”2

M. Russell Ballard declared, “The Lord is our precious Savior. He is the Redeemer of the world. We must honor His sacred name …, always striving to keep His commandments. If we do so, He will bless us and lead us safely home.”8

Ultimately, the Savior is important in our lives because “there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."9

What are the roles of the Holy Ghost?

Sister Bingham reminds us, “The Holy Ghost bears witness of eternal truth.”6 One vitally important truth is that we are children of God. President Dallin H. Oaks said, “The most important thing about us is that we are all children of God.”7 Joy D. Jones taught, “The Spirit will confirm to each of us individually our divine worth. Truly knowing that you are a daughter [or son] of God will affect every aspect of your life. … We may seldom, if ever, receive huge spiritual manifestations in our lives; but we can frequently savor the sweet whisperings of the Holy Ghost verifying the truth of our spiritual worth.”10

In fact, we are taught that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”11 That should help us understand why President Henry B. Eyring challenged us to “pray, work and live to have the Holy Ghost as our companions in our lives. Find joy in the influence of the Holy Ghost.”12

Who am I, and who can I become?

Among the first words from our new prophet to us were, “Our Father in Heaven cherishes His children and wants each of us to return home to Him.”12 And during the press conference, President Nelson said, “God loves His children and He wants them to have joy.” He also wants us to understand “what it really means when we sing and say ‘I Am a Child of God’” and how precious life is. He reminds us, “It is all a gift from God. He can take us home any time He wants. But He allows us to have this period to choose what we will do and more importantly what we will become.”7

Think about why is it so important that we know our Heavenly Father, that we understand the importance Jesus Christ plays in our individual lives and that we hear and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Without that knowledge and understanding, it seems impossible for us to know who we really are and who we can become.

During general conference, we were often reminded that “each of us has divinity within us.” Ronald A. Rasband stated, “When our Father in Heaven said, ‘This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man,’ He was talking about all of His children—you in particular.”13

Sister Bingham said, “Knowing that God is our Father assures us that we have divine potential and royal promise.”6

Dieter F. Uchtdorf emphasized that we are “of the royal house of the kingdom of God, daughters [and sons] of Heavenly Parents, who reign throughout the universe. You have the spiritual DNA of God. … You are the child of our merciful and everlasting Father in Heaven. … You are in His hands. Very good hands. Loving hands. Caring hands. You are His precious child. He loves you.”14

Knowing our divine identity will help to ensure that we keep our faith burning strong. While we sometimes hear people say they are experiencing a crisis of faith, I believe they are actually having a spiritual identity crisis. If we forget who we really are, we let the things that keep us close to our Heavenly Father, our Savior and the Holy Ghost slowly slip from our priorities. Apathy sets in and soon we don’t think we have any faith at all. Sister Jones warns us, “Let’s not be confused about who we are! While it is often easier to be spiritually passive than it is to put forth the spiritual effort to remember and embrace our divine identity, we cannot afford that indulgence in these latter days.”10

A similar warning comes from David A. Bednar, “Ultimately, what we become is the result of our knowledge of and willingness to learn from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; it is not merely the sum total of our daily pursuits over the course of a lifetime. The gospel is so much more than a routine checklist of discrete tasks to be performed; rather, it is a magnificent tapestry of truth ‘fitly framed’ and woven together, designed to help us become like our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, even partakers of the divine nature. Truly, we are blinded ‘by looking beyond the mark’ when this overarching spiritual reality is overshadowed by the cares, concerns, and casualness of the world.”15

We can avoid that kind of worldly casualness if we will “pursue holiness,” as D. Todd Christofferson encourages us to do. “If we yearn to dwell in Christ and have Him dwell in us, then holiness is what we seek. … We seek it even in the details of daily living: our speech, our dress, our thoughts. … It is a consuming endeavor, and it would be terribly daunting if in our striving for holiness we were alone. The glorious truth is we are not alone. We have the love of God, the grace of Christ, the comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship and encouragement of fellow Saints in the body of Christ.”16

Did you hear that beautiful description of the Godhead? May we do all we can to allow the “love of God, the grace of Christ, [and] the comfort and guidance of the Holy Ghost”16 to bless our lives daily. My heart was touched when I heard our dear prophet speak these words, “I declare my devotion to God, our Eternal Father, and to His Son, Jesus Christ. I know Them, love Them and pledge to serve Them and you with every remaining breath of my life.”12 May we follow his example and do our best each day to strive to “know these Divine Beings in every way we can, … to love Them, draw near to Them, obey Them, and try to be like Them.”4