Understanding Who We Are

    In light of the current circumstances circulating throughout the press, I intended this post to be about my struggle with finding love for womanhood and how I am now excited about my potential--in no way desiring that I would have the opportunity to receive the priesthood. However, as I was reading through quotes I had marked from Sheri Dew's book, Women and the Priesthood: What One Mormon Woman Believes, I decided it would be best to follow a moderately less political path and focus on the fundamental importance of understanding our divine destinies.

"Our spirits long for us to remember the truth about who we are because the way we see ourselves affects everything we do. It affects how we treat others, how seriously we work to develop ourselves and progress, how we handles both success and defeat, how we feel about the Lord Jesus Christ and His message, and whether or not we are more interested in this life or life forever."

    Perhaps it is different for you, but the resonating phrase from Sister Dew's words is "whether or not we are more interested in this life or life forever." It is possible that this locution left the largest impact on my mind due to my lack of eternal perspective these past few weeks. I read my scriptures and prayed because I knew I had to in order for me to remain positive and upbeat--never once did it cross my mind that I had the potential to become a divine Being and was preparing myself now for the responsibilities I will have in the life to come. What a drastic change all of our lives would undergo if we could but realize the tremendous worth we, as children of God, have! "The more clearly we understand our divine destiny, the more immune we become to Satan". If we truly had the necessary cognition for understanding who we are, it would be near impossible for us to fall to the trifling temptations we so easily capitulate to. "Defeat begins more with a blur in vision of what is humanly possible than with the appearance of ogres in the path", so it is no wonder Satan tries to do all he possibly can to make us forget about who we are. He knows that if he can get us to forget about our Divine Parentage, he has complete control over what we do. Why else would he have tried so hard, calling Moses a "son of man" after he spoke with God face to face? He understood that if Moses lost sight of what he was capable of, he wouldn't put up a fight to the temptations that came his way.
    Unfortunately, this is an undeniable truth. It has proven its veracity time and time again in my own life. The greatest temptation I face is remembering the value I have and the potential I have been promised. My self esteem is constantly targeted and, when wounded, causes an increased susceptibility to the downfalls of sin. I become less interested in doing the necessary requisites--praying and reading my scriptures--and more interested on allowing this life to make me as miserable as it can. I lose my desire to act. Life can happen to me, but I refuse to make my mark on it. However, the contrary is also true: when I am able to be reminded of what I was sent here to become, I'm fortified against the devil's volleys.

"We will never be happy or feel peace; we will never deal well with life's stresses and ambiguities; we will never live up to who we are as [children] of God unless we overcome our mortal identity crisis and understand who we have always been and who we may become. The truth about who we are and who we have always been carries a sense of purpose that cannot be duplicated in any other way. This is because, as Elder Callister explained, 'with increased vision comes increased motivation.'"

    At times it seems our lives are inefficacious; no matter what we feel like we simply cannot win. At these moments in your life, I challenge you to question your perspective and see if you truly believe in the divine worth you possess. At these junctures, do you really comprehend that you will one day have the potential to become a god? You are a child of God and your inherent capacity for good is ineradicable. Don't allow yourself to believe otherwise.