I'm in the process of listening to conference one last time before conference again. I think this makes three, including live four. An interesting thing has happened, talks that once annoyed me have now become meaningful, talks that once sounded like gibberish of stories, now make gospel sense. So this last time I around, I was listening, and went through a few talks at once, while driving kids around. As the days passed, I kept thinking this one though over and over. So I went back and scanned through the last 6 or so talks. I found this, from President Utchdorf's talk during Priesthood titled, "Four Titles".
But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like every other. This would contradict the genius of God, who created every man different from his brother, every son different from his father. Even identical twins are not identical in their personalities and spiritual identities.I love this quote so much, there is so much to say about, but I think I will leave well enough alone. We are meant to be different. We can be righteous and still be different.
It also contradicts the intent and purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ, which acknowledges and protects the moral agency—with all its far-reaching consequences—of each and every one of God’s children. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are united in our testimony of the restored gospel and our commitment to keep God’s commandments. But we are diverse in our cultural, social, and political preferences.
The Church thrives when we take advantage of this diversity and encourage each other to develop and use our talents to lift and strengthen our fellow disciples.
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