Your Most Valuable Possession

"Put these on! Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it!"

"Remember the bad guys on those shows you used to watch on Saturday mornings? Well these guys aren't like those guys, they won't exercise restraint because you're children. They will kill you if they get the chance. Do NOT give them that chance!"

It doesn't take much looking around in today's world to witness the relentless attempts at destroying our children. One of Satan's greatest tactics is to cause them to lose their true identity as sons and daughters of God, outlined especially in the Proclamation to the World. Any deviation from this is a success to him. And there are copious amounts of deviations today. 

Yes, I know 100%, I know that children make up their own mind and choose their own way often regardless of what we try so desperately to teach them. But we also let the adversary win if we believe that our influence is beyond their reach. Children may move out and move on but there is no age that they have to move out of our influence. In fact, I believe as we are prayerful, we can still reach them when they are hundreds of miles apart, even after we pass from this mortal life -our influence can live on for them. I know this because I've witnessed it with my mom and my father-in-law. Our example is noticed. Our faith is felt, even if our kids seem to ignore it. Never underestimate the small and simple things.

How do we protect our true identity as covenant keepers with God? 

1. First and foremost, "Put these on!! Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it!"

Put on Christ. "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem."- Isaiah 52:1 It is not a small thing that we have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ through sacraments we partake of each week and symbols we physically wear every day. Our outward choices often manifest the seriousness of our devotion and the focus of our hearts. Make HIM your priority in your words, your actions, your every-day living. 

• "My young friends, I plead with you to take your temple covenants seriously! Keeping our sacred covenants with God is crucial- not optional. We are deeply dismayed by the casual and even cavalier way some treat their Temple covenants, including the casual and inconsistent wearing of the temple garment. There is among some a growing sense of spiritual apathy and casual Covenant keeping that is becoming increasingly common among those who should know and do better. Covenant keeping has nothing to do with personal preference and convenience and everything to do with commitment! I am confident that if these sacred covenants were better understood, they would be honored and cherished above all other commitments.... 
• Are your baptismal and Temple Covenants [that you made in Christ] central to your life, or merely ancillary?"   - Kevin W. Pearson Oct. 2022  "The Abundant Life" https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/kevin-w-pearson/the-abundant-life-2/?M=A

2. Second, believe in grace! Believe in forgiveness! Believe in new beginnings and second chances! Believe people can change, especially ourselves! We are never too old to improve, to step-up our spiritual game. We are never too late to re-evaluate how we spend our time and energy. It is never too late to repent.  Seek after those things that matter most. The very word "repentance" means to change!!! Through the ATONEMENT of Christ, all things are possible!

• According to the Bible Dictionary repentance, "denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined."

3. Keep the FAITH. This is God's true church on the Earth. I know that we are led and guided by living prophets and apostles chosen and called by God and true servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Stay close and in touch with their counsel and teachings. They will lead you in the right way! Don't deviate and delve into trends or groups who claim inspiration, even fellow members of the church, who have the appearance of good but no substance to save. 

• "Jesus cautioned several times that prior to His Second Coming, 'many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many' (Matt. 24:11).
• When we think of false prophets and false teachers, we tend to think of those who espouse an obviously false doctrine or presume to have authority to teach the true gospel of Christ according to their own interpretation. We often assume that such individuals are associated with small radical groups on the fringes of society. However, I reiterate: there are false prophets and false teachers who have or at least claim to have membership in the Church. There are those who, without authority, claim Church endorsement to their products and practices. Beware of such."- M. Russell Ballard - Beware of False Prophets

We have been given the power to withstand the attacks of the adversary in our day. Protect your identity!! Put on Christ -treasure and take covenants seriously, Rejoice in and use the atonement every day through repentance. And Stay close to and give strict heed to the living Prophet's and Apostles. As we do so, we will be safeguarded from a very real power that seeks to destroy us. We will have peace, protection, light, and clear direction. And all will work together for good. I know this is true!!

• "I plead with you now—to take charge of your own testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Work for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with false philosophies of unbelieving men and women. As you make the continual strengthening of your testimony of Jesus Christ your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life."- President Russell M. Nelson