Reflections on Labels and Identity - 2 June 2022

 

While there are many things that I am proud of, above all, I am most proud of my relationship with Heavenly Father and my commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Even though I “walk imperfectly,” those facets of my life are most central to who I am. President Russell M. Nelson reminded us in a recent worldwide devotional that we are all 1) children of God, and we can all strive to be 2) children of the covenant and 3) disciples of Christ. Even as a child of God, walking the covenant path of discipleship can certainly be difficult, and any progress we make along that path is definitely something to be proud of.

While there are many other labels that we could apply to ourselves or to each other, we should be careful to not let any other label “displace, replace, or take priority over” these three most important identifiers and thereby cause “spiritually suffocating” results. In the devotional, President Nelson taught, “The adversary rejoices in labels because they divide us and restrict the way we think about ourselves and each other. Labels can lead to judging and animosity.” There are many examples of this in our world today.

It is my hope that we can all be proud of ourselves and each other this month–and always–by focusing on our common identity and by seeing ourselves and others first and foremost as children of God. In addition, I hope that we will personally ensure that we do not let other labels or experiences, whatever their nature, distract us from striving to be children of the covenant and disciples of Christ.