Jones - Value beyond Measure - October 2017

Sister Jones speaks during the Women's Conference in September 2017.  She speaks about being a daughter of Heavenly Father and learning the true worth that brings to your life.  She begins by sharing that knowledge of being a daughter of God can guide you every day of your life.

• Truly knowing that you are a daughter of God will affect every aspect of your life and guide you in the service you render each day.
  

She speaks about the difference between self-worth and worthiness when it comes to spiritual things.

• Let me point out the need to differentiate between two critical words: worth and worthiness. They are not the same. Spiritual worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us. Our worth was determined before we ever came to this earth. “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever.”
• On the other hand, worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin, we are less worthy, but we are never worth less! We continue to repent and strive to be like Jesus with our worth intact. As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.” No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.
  

Sister Jones talks about listening to the Spirit and how worthiness plays an important part in hearing those promptings.  She shares that the messages are often very quiet and require us to be spiritually prepared to hear the messages that we are being sent.

• We may seldom, if ever, receive huge spiritual manifestations in our lives; but we can frequently savor the sweet whisperings of the Holy Ghost verifying the truth of our spiritual worth.
  

The forces of evil have to be silenced by the quiet obedience of everyday living.  Only when we are worthy of the Spirit, can we overcome the world and become all that God wants us to become.

• If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us overcome the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves.
  

In summary, Sister Jones reemphasizes the points she has made during this talk.

• Let me reemphasize: if the pull of the world is stronger than the faith and trust we have in the Savior, then the pull of the world will prevail every time. If we choose to focus on our negative thoughts and doubt our worth instead of clinging to the Savior, it becomes more difficult to feel the impressions of the Holy Ghost.
  
• Sisters, let’s not be confused about who we are! While it is often easier to be spiritually passive than it is to put forth the spiritual effort to remember and embrace our divine identity, we cannot afford that indulgence in these latter days.
  

I have three daughters and I have taught them from a young age that they have true worth in our Heavenly Father's eyes.  They are truly daughters of Heavenly Father who loves them.  Teaching them to learn to hear the spirit can be difficult at times when they don't feel worthy of the blessings that are receiving.  Sister Jones points out that our "worth" to God is not dependent on something we do.  It is inherent in the fact that we are here on Earth.  When we recognize that God loves us no matter what we do, we will start to realize the blessings that we have in our lives and want to do things that will bring us closer to Him.  Worthiness brings us closer to Him.  It is my prayer that we will let that knowledge of divine childhood penetrate our hearts and encourage our worthiness by following the Savior a little more each day.