Who Are You?

In the third chapter of his book Heart of the Matter, President Nelson quoted this statement from Peter: “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (Acts 3:25). He then also cited the similar passage found in the Book of Mormon when the Savior spoke to the Nephites: “Ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from [your] iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant” (3 Nephi 20:25-26). President Nelson then commented, “The significance of this is profound! Those who keep their covenants with God will become a strain of sin-resistant souls who have the desire and strength to overcome the world!” I was impressed as I continued listening to the book and found that in the next chapter he quoted both of these verses again. As he did so he wrote, “I believe that the first thing the Lord wants you to understand is who you truly are! This is exactly what He taught the people of ancient America when He spoke to them. After identifying who He was, He told His listeners who they were…. These same truths were declared to people in biblical times…. You are literally a spirit child of God. You have no doubt sung this truth since you learned the words to ‘I Am a Child of God.’ But is this eternal truth imprinted upon your heart?” He wants us to understand that we are children of God and have made covenants with Him—that is more important than any other label that we might give ourselves in this life.

                In the book President Nelson then asked this question: “Who are you?” He answered that in the same way that he has answered it before: “First and foremost, you are a child of God. Second, if you are a member of the Church, you are a child of the covenant. When you were baptized, you made very specific covenants with the Lord. You promised to bear others’ burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those in need of comfort, and ‘stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things.’ And third, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.” He urged us to make these the most important labels we take on, saying, “No identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over the three paramount, enduring designations: ‘child of God,’ ‘child of the covenant,’ and ‘disciple of Jesus Christ.’” The designation “child of God” gives us a perspective about where we came from: our Father in Heaven created our spirits before we came to this earth and sent us here to keep our “second estate.” The designation “disciple of Jesus Christ” gives us a focus on how to live our lives: we are to seek to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Nephi taught us that we should “[follow] the example of the Son of the living God” and invited us in these words: “Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter” (2 Nephi 31:16-17). And the designation “child of the covenant” helps us to stay focused on where we want to go after this life—we want to obtain eternal life with God and our loved ones as He has covenanted with us. The Savior said to William E. McLellin: “Verily I say unto you, blessed are you for receiving mine everlasting covenant, even the fulness of my gospel, sent forth unto the children of men, that they might have life and be made partakers of the glories which are to be revealed in the last days…. Continue in these things even unto the end, and you shall have a crown of eternal life at the right hand of my Father, who is full of grace and truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 66:2, 12). As we keep our covenant with the Lord, His promise is that we will have eternal life and exaltation in the life to come. This promise should guide us to stay true to our covenants with Him. These three most important designations that President Nelson highlighted indeed help us to understand where we came here, what we are to do on the earth, and the glory we can obtain in the life to come. We must cling to them above all other labels in this life and help those we love around us to do the same.