Know Yourself as a Daughter of God, and Believe it!

 

 

Just last night right before scripture study, I came across a quote on Pinterest by Dieter F. Uchtdorf that I just fell in love with.

 

 

After I came across this quote, I came across this verse in my scripture study. I remember this verse from scripture mastery, but I saw it in a new perspective after President Uchtodorf's insight.

   

I will never forget sitting in my 9th grade seminary class, and having my seminary teacher, Brother Harding reading this verse with such zeal and love for the scriptures. He would recite, "Oh the cunning plan of the evil one! Oh the vainness and frailties and the foolishness of men," in such a deep, strong voice that sounded like an earthquake.  I was very familiar with this scripture, and can always imagine dear Brother Harding's voice. But this time when I read it, I was blown away when I discovered a new connection I had not seen before. After I got the lines about the adversary, the Holy Ghost came to me powerfully as I read, "they hearken not unto the counsel of God, and they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves."

"Supposing they know of themselves."

 

 Think about all the titles people give one another. Some are based on how we look, social statuses, occupations, friend cliches, cool kids, nerds, cheerleaders etc. Our social interactions give us titles, good and bad, that slowly become apart of us (which can also be good or bad).  Many of these distinguish us and set us apart.  Based on other people's opinions of us, we see us as those views. Someone points out a flaw in our figure, and seems an impossible task to get past looking at that flaw every single time in the mirror.   We diminish ourselves because of our flaws, imperfections, and because we are not perfectly polished.  There are people who see you as part of a beauty contest, or IQ test, or merely associate you in a ranks and categories. Slowly over time, if we are not careful, our view of ourselves could become 100% dependent on others opinions of us, with absolutely no foundation of our individual worth discovered by us individually.

Confidence is Key!

I remember an example of someone who put her worth 100% dependent on what others thought of her, specifically what other young men thought of her. After she never got asked to a dance in Jr. High (granted, this was Jr. High, nobody asked anybody to those dances), she ran to her locker in a frantic sob. Her fake eyelashes were falling off, she was trying to hold back tears, and her friends were trying to comfort her.  If this Young Woman had found her own worth, she would have been resilient and confident, knowing that she was worth more than the boy that didn't ask her to the dance.

That's what people are missing: their own authentic view of themselves.

Granted, not all people's views of us are set out to pull us down. People love us, compliment us, and see us as God does. So if we put all of the useless opinions to the side, and allow God's point of you of us (and the uplifting views from others) become the view of ourselves: we will see something truly beautiful. Just like the verse and quote, we must turn to God to truly know of ourselves.

Now we just need to believe it!

Believe you are worth people's time, you do deserve respect, and you are a daughter of God precious with divine potential.

This is my all time favorite song (and the fact it is from Veggie Tales makes it that much better). Whenever I feel not worth it, this song is a such a comfort! Just take a minute, listen to the words, and see you as God see's you!