With all the noise in the world it can be hard to know who or what to listen to, and let’s face it many of the voices aren’t shouting very positive messages. As humans we long to feel like we are a part of something, like we belong, but so much of the shouting in the world seems to focus on how we are all different and how you will never truly fit in unless…. And the unless’s are endless.

What helps me to know that I fit in is the knowledge that I am a daughter of God. I know he loves me and I know that He sent his son Jesus Christ to the earth to redeem me just because He wants to be with me forever. I am part of God’s family. I am His child. That is a pretty powerful thing to belong to, something that we all belong to as members of the human race.

At this April’s General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there was a talk that bore testimony of the divine tie we have to God and our belonging to him. It made me think of how we are all his children and how He wants us to treat each other as we are journeying back to Him in this mortal life.

I was so excited to read the talk once it became available online, and I would like to share it along with some of my favorite quotes from it with you. The talk is entitled By This All Will Know That You Are My Disciples. It was given by elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

What I loved about this talk was how it focused on how we should treat each other and how this unites us in life and will help us as we walk the path back to our Father in Heaven. He referenced 1 Samuel 16:7 when he stated, “God does not view things the way people do. People look to the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

“God does not view things the way people do. People look to the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Samuel 16:7

He then goes on to say, 

“It is not our common background that unites us. It is our common objective, our love for God and love for our neighbor, our commitment to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. We are “one in Christ.”
The unity we seek is not to have everyone stand in the same place; it is to have everyone face in the same direction—toward Jesus Christ. We are one not because of where we’ve been but where we are striving to go, not because of who we are but who we seek to become.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I loved that. It spoke to my soul. So often in church, with fellow Christians and our fellow men we get so focused on the differences we forget about the One so many of us are aiming our life towards, God. We forget that we are all headed in the same direction. Can’t we pause the narrative long enough to just help each other out along the path?

Elder Uchtdorf then invites all to come into the Body of Christ. What I loved about this was his acknowledgement that God and Jesus don’t care if you aren’t perfect. What they care about is that you are “earnestly seeking to keep the Savior’s commandments—even though you aren’t perfect at it yet.”

God doesn’t care if you are different from those around you. As Elder Uchtdorf explained being different, “doesn’t make you a misfit—it makes you a needed part of the body of Christ. All are needed in the body of Christ. The ears perceive things that the eyes never could. The feet do things that the hands would be ineffective at.”

“All are needed in the body of Christ. The ears perceive things that the eyes never could. The feet do things that the hands would be ineffective at.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

If this sounds like the ideal to you, you are correct. This is the ideal and Elder Uchtdorf acknowledges that the ideal isn’t always what we find in the Body of Christ and in our daily life. For times when we aren’t feeling the ideal he offers this advice.

Don’t quit following him because people are dumb (my words, not his.) Not giving up on God requires us to be patient and show grace to those around us. Elder Uchtdorf eloquently put it this way, “while we hold ourselves to the Lord’s high standards, let’s also be patient with one another. We are each a work in progress, and we all rely on the Savior for any progress we make. That’s true for us as individuals, and it’s true for the kingdom of God on earth.”

“So, while we hold ourselves to the Lord’s high standards, let’s also be patient with one another. We are each a work in progress, and we all rely on the Savior for any progress we make. That’s true for us as individuals, and it’s true for the kingdom of God on earth.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In order to do this we need to be “of one heart and one mind.”(Moses 7:18) Does that mean we all have to be the same? What about the whole eyes and hand thing? I loved his answer to this one too.

“And to be of one heart, we must seek pure hearts, and that requires a mighty change of heart.
But that doesn’t mean changing my heart to align with yours. Nor does it mean changing your heart to align with mine. It means that we all change our hearts to align with the Savior.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Ooo, let me tell you, that one gave me goose bumps. In my mind I saw all the people of the earth turn towards God. I know it sounds dramatic, but just imagine how awesome that would be! How strong we would be, how happy, if as one with all our individual strengths, turned towards the Savior and worked together to help each other return to our heavenly home. It gives me goosebumps still. 

It’s important to note that on the subject of being one Elder Uchtdorf offers this bit of very important insight. Being one, “doesn’t mean your job is to change everyone to be like yourself. But it does mean that you have something important to contribute—and that you have something important to learn!”

 I know we aren’t there yet, but in Luke 1:37 we read, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Luke 1:37

Elder Uchtdorf ended his talk with this blessing, “May God bless us to patiently but diligently seek to live up to the ideals our Savior, Redeemer, and Master has set for us—so all will know that we are His disciples.”

This is my hope too for my own life, to patiently but diligently follow my Savior all the way back to my Father in Heaven. Have a blessed day.

-Leathra