confidence before God

When I speak of having confidence before God, I am referring to having confidence in approaching God right now! I am referring to praying with confidence that Heavenly Father hears us, that He understands our needs better than we do. I am referring to having confidence that He loves us more than we can comprehend, that He sends angels to be with us and with those we love. I am referring to having confidence that He yearns to help each of us reach our highest potential.

Now, how do we gain such confidence? The Lord answers this question with these words: “Let thy bowels … be full of charity towards all men, … and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.”

There’s the key! In the Lord’s own words, charity and virtue open the way to having confidence before God! Brothers and sisters, we can do this! Our confidence can truly wax strong in the presence of God, right now!

Russell M. Nelson

"Confidence in the Presence of God", General Conference April 2025

I truly am a son of God

Since finding my faith in my mid-20s, I have awakened to the realisation that I truly am a son of God. The more fully I internalise this gift, the more keenly I know who I am and how completely I am loved. Some things that have helped me grow in understanding are the words of scripture, my patriarchal blessing, temple worship, serving others, expressing gratitude, and sacred prayer with my Father. I marvel at how earlier sorrow, pain, and grief in my life would have been reframed, soothed, and much of it overcome had I known this beautiful truth.

Patrick Kearon

"Receive His Gift," General Conference April 2025

please accept the gift

I invite you to receive, either for the first time or to a greater extent than ever before, the magnificent realisation that you truly are God’s beloved child. You must undo the bow, tear off the wrapping paper, open the box, and actively receive with grateful humility a true, pure understanding of this foundational truth. The Holy Spirit can bear witness to your heart that you are indeed a child of the Most High.

When you welcome this majestic reality into your very soul and feel both the comfort and the thrill of it, your entire paradigm shifts! You can feel His love, hear His voice, and recognise His hand, no matter what is happening, or not happening, in your life. You can redefine how you see yourself and others. Your covenant bond with your Saviour becomes even stronger, and through the lens of this sweet gift, life takes on new brilliance, beauty, and hope.

Please, will you pray to understand if you are truly receiving this transformative knowledge deep in your soul? Will you please accept the gift? Will you do so more deeply, more freely, more abundantly than you ever have before—and in so doing be showered with all of those other gifts that come with it?

Patrick Kearon

"Receive His Gift," General Conference April 2025

to have eyes to see and a heart to feel

[T]he Savior’s perfect love is focused on enabling all of God’s children to fulfill our divine potential that we may “partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.” As we become more like our Master, our desire to help our brothers and sisters along the covenant path will naturally increase.

For instance, we can uplift and befriend those who feel offended or forgotten, help those who are new to our congregation feel welcome, or invite friends to worship with us at sacrament meeting—perhaps this coming Easter. There are countless ways to encourage and assist others in their progression if we deliberately and prayerfully seek heaven’s help to have eyes to see and a heart to feel how Jesus Christ sees and feels for them.

Michael B. Strong

"Charity—a Sign of True Discipleship", General Conference April 2025

there are no ordinary people

French is not who I am; it is where I was born. White is not who I am; it is the color of my skin, or lack thereof. Professor is not who I am; it is what I did to support my family. General Authority Seventy is not who I am; it is where I serve in the kingdom at this time.

“First and foremost,” as President Nelson reminded us, I am a “child of God.” So are you, and so are all other people around us. I pray that we may come to a greater appreciation of this wonderful truth. It changes everything!

We may have been raised in different cultures; we may come from different socioeconomic circumstances; our mortal heritage, including our nationality, skin color, food preferences, political orientation, etc., may vary greatly. But we are His children, all of us, without exception. We have the same divine origin and the same limitless potential through the grace of Jesus Christ.

C. S. Lewis put it this way: “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. … There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.”

Christophe G. Giraud-Carrier

"We Are His Children," General Conference October 2023

his hopeful approach

I went through a rough patch my senior year in high school when I wasn’t making great choices. I remember seeing my mom crying, and I wondered if I’d disappointed her. At the time, I worried that her tears meant she’d lost hope for me, and if she didn’t feel hope for me, maybe there wasn’t a way back.

But my dad was more practiced at zooming out and taking the long view. He’d learned from experience that worry feels a lot like love, but it’s not the same. He used the eye of faith to see that everything would work out, and his hopeful approach changed me.

When I graduated from high school and went to BYU, my dad sent letters reminding me of who I was. He became my cheerleader, and everybody needs a cheerleader—someone who isn’t telling you, “You’re not running fast enough”; they’re lovingly reminding you that you can.

Tamara W. Runia

"Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens," General Conference October 2023

you are destined for glory

As you consider your own messy little life, consider who you are. Consider whose you are. Consider that Christ's resurrection is the guarantee that you too will be raised one day physically. Consider that you have already been raised spiritually (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1). When you sin, you behave out of accord with who you now are. You're acting like a former orphan who's been adopted yet keeps running out of his new house to the curb to beg for bread when the kitchen is fully stocked and freely his. You are destined for glory. 

Dane C. Ortlund

Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners by Dane C. Ortlund. Crossway. 2021. p.59

one by one

All religious people believe that the Creator is concerned about man, but the nearness of his concern may be overlooked. Because of the weakness of man’s mind, because of his inability to discern and remember many individual things, man uses abstract ideas to help him. Man speaks of nature, society, humanity. The divine mind does not require such ideas. All things are known to God; therefore, not just mankind but each individual human being is God’s object of concern. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30.) Deep in every human heart is the desire to be known and loved just for oneself. But only One can have such love and knowledge. Men group themselves into classes, races, and nations, but the Father calls them as he called their first parents in the Garden, one by one. 

The Lord’s Question: Thoughts on the Life of Response by Dennis Rasmussen. Brigham Young University Press. April 1985. Chapter One, “Where Art Thou?” p.9

vain, frail, and foolish

Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change. 

But we are less faithful than He is. By nature we are vain, frail, and foolish. We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep the commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. Sometimes we forget to succor the poor and the downtrodden who are also His children. And our forgetfulness is very much to our detriment.

Thomas S. Monson, "9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild." On Faith: The Washington Post. Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 09/08/2011

renewal of faith has waned

Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed [the September 11 attacks]. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well. 

Thomas S. Monson, "9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild." On Faith: The Washington Post. Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 09/08/2011

our faith now becomes part of our posterity’s faith later

All that the future holds in store for each sacred child of God will be shaped by his or her parents, family, friends, and teachers. Thus, our faith now becomes part of our posterity’s faith later. 

Russell M. Nelson, "Face the Future with Faith." April 2011 General Conference

i was born to be a king

I have always loved the story of the son of King Louis XVI of France because he had an unshakable knowledge of his identity. As a young man, he was kidnapped by evil men who had dethroned his father, the king. These men knew that if they could destroy him morally, he would not be heir to the throne. For six months they subjected him to every vile thing life had to offer, and yet he never yielded under pressure. This puzzled his captors, and after doing everything they could think of, they asked him why he had such great moral strength. His reply was simple. He said, “I cannot do what you ask, for I was born to be a king.”

Like the king’s son, each of you has inherited a royal birthright. Each of you has a divine heritage.


Elaine S. Dalton, "Remember Who You Are!" General Young Women Meeting, April 2010