I Am a Child of God

Sep 2011
by Elder Jui-chang Juan
of the Seventy

Knowing Oneself
I feel strongly that I Am a Child of God (Hymn, 301). This hymn not only has a beautiful melody, but it carries priceless messages.

It tells the truth that “I am a Child of God”. These few words convey the infinite truth. In this sentence “I am a child of God”, we find a pronoun “I”, the nouns “child” and “God”, as well as a possessive case “of”. It strongly points out my existence, God’s existence, and the relationship between God and I. Everyone can sing this song. In other words, everyone is a child of God. However, only few people in the world know this truth, which is why we must continue to preach the gospel.
If we replace the pronoun “I” with “you”, “him” or “her”, we will see more clearly how we’re supposed to treat others and interact with others.

Loving Oneself
Only having the correct knowledge of who we are, can we truly love ourselves. We will not be prideful, and we will not have low self-esteem. Nor will we be selfish. This is because prideful people think they’re more important than other people, and people with low self-esteem think other people are more important than they are. As far as selfish people, they consider themselves the center of the world and set their own interests as first priority. They are willing to sacrifice other people’s interests for their own. Someone who actually loves him/herself, on the other hand, will think about what other people need. This is why Christ taught us that the biggest commandment is not to love thy neighbors as thyself, but rather, to love God with all your heart, mind and strength. For if we never really know God and love Him, then even if we want to love our neighbors as ourselves, our neighbors might get hurt instead of benefit from our love since there is something wrong with our quality of love. 
This is why Christ taught us that “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). Let us think about baptism and missionary work, and think about the stories we often hear or even experienced. If our parents won’t let us follow God’s will or even force us to not do what God wants us to do, should we honor our parents, or should we follow the will of the “Father?” Imagine what would happen if everyone considers honoring parents the highest priority instead of following the will of Heavenly Father, what would then happen to your life, your family, and even your society? For we were all taught to become perfect even as our Heavenly Father; thus, Christ taught us that “And he that taketh not his cross … is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). Christ not only taught us to do so, but He also carried His own cross and followed only the will of Heavenly Father. He said,” if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). What would our cross be? It could be our thoughts such as “I’m doing things that are not in tune with the Spirit of the Lord, but oh well, that’s who I am” or “if this is what I like, why not?” Or our cross could be something like keeping the commandments and yet not receiving the blessings we long for, or being worthy and yet suffering from tribulations. It could even be having the desires to serve, but being restricted in our capabilities to serve others.

Sharing
Therefore, after we become truly healthy, emotionally and spiritually, we will have greater achievement trying to help others and share our testimonies with others. This is why we must first “[treasure the Lord’s] word” (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:37) in our hearts. This is why the Savior told us to go into the world and preach the gospel to all nations and all peoples. This is also why the prophets reminded us over and over again that every church member is a missionary. In other words, an unselfish disciple is someone who is eager and willing to bear testimony for the Lord at all times and in all places.

Sacrifice
When we want to do all that Christ has asked of us, it is common we are confronted with the reality of our lives.  As a result, “sacrifice” becomes an important principle when examining whether we truly become Christ’s disciples. The prophet Joseph Smith taught us that “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith). We can think about the teachings of sacrifice in the endowment ordinance in the temple and the promises we make. Eternal life is such a precious gift that we must give all that we have to gain eternal life. Christ sacrificed His valuable life for our salvation and set a perfect example for us. How can we not sacrifice if we want to live with Him in the kingdom of our Father?

When we are depressed and feel like giving up, when our hearts are full of anger and can’t forgive, when we are lonely, when we are lost, when we are exhausted and when we feel numb about people around us, please don’t forget to sing the hymn “I Am a Child of God”. If you’re at a place that you can’t sing out loud, just hum the tune. I testify that you will feel the love of the Lord immediately and know that we are all in His hands. All is well, all is well. We are indeed His children, and He is our Father. Jesus Christ is our oldest brother and our advocate. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His life. The only way we can pay Him back is by loving Him, following His footsteps and endure to the end. ■