Week 2: Our Divine Worth

I loved this week's topic of Divine Worth. How often do we forget our incredible heritage? Do we realize what amazing potential we have? How would our lives be changed for the better if we were to constantly remind ourselves that we come from Heavenly Parents who love us?

Barbara Lockhart wrote a really awesome chapter for our class on this subject. I would encourage all of you (or the one of you, Michelle, in case you're the only one reading this!) to read it sometime. I felt the spirit as I studied it, and it definitely broadened my perspective on a lot of things.

Some key things I learned and loved:

Our gifts and talents are attributes we have inherited from our Heavenly Parents.

"An intelligent being, in the image of God, possesses every organ, attribute, sense, sympathy, affection, of will, wisdom, love, power, and gift, which is possessed by God himself. But these are possessed by man in his rudimental state in a subordinate sense of the word. Or, in other words, these attributes are in embryo, and are to be gradually developed. They resemble a bud, a germ, which gradually develops into a bloom, and then, by progress, produces the mature fruit after its own kind."
~Parley P. Pratt

We read about "losing" ourselves in the service of the Lord. This principle has sometimes worried me, because I want to keep my individuality and not morph into the stereotypical LDS casserole-baker (though I do love casseroles!) but I found this quote by Elder Maxwell that I just loved, and I thought it was very helpful-

"Losing oneself means losing concern over getting credit; by knowing our true identity we need not be concerned about seeming anonymity. It likewise means losing our desire to be in the driver's seat; putting our shoulder to the wheel is enough. It means that eagles meekly serve under sparrows- without worrying over comparitive wingspans or plumage...Losing oneslef means yielding the substance of one's own agendum if it does not match the agendum of the Lord."

Finally, worth is eternal, irrevocable, and unchangeable. Each of us has the potential to become a God or Goddess. Nothing we can do, no mistake we make can change what we can become. I love that principle. I find so much hope in the fact that I am always precious in the sight of Heavenly Father as one of His children. I am coming to better appreciate the Atonement as the means of bridging the gap between what I am and what I want to be. I am so thankful for the Plan of Salvation, and that God loved us enough that He wanted us to become like him. I am thankful for my savior Jesus Christ. I love him. I say these things in His name, Amen.

Have a great sunday! :)