Part 2: Our Relationships with Others

Look, I know there's a foreign language
caption here. Just ignore it and focus on
Christ with the children. :)

This category contains what I see as divinity in how we treat other people and how we develop relationships. To me, one of God’s defining qualities is the ability to love people deeply, no matter what they have done or who they are. Our Heavenly Parents love each of us and see more in us than we do—and that means that They see more in others too. Including the people we don’t understand, don’t like, even hate or fear. They see potential where sometimes we only see faults.

I appreciate that quality so much—I appreciate knowing that our Heavenly Parents care about me and have patience and mercy toward me. And I have witnessed in my own life that when I try to take this divine quality into my life, my relationships are improved, my entire outlook is improved, and I feel a greater love for those around me.

·         Relating to people individually—reaching people where they are; “he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Ne. 31:3).

·         Seeing good in others, even when they are behaving badly (Mos. 9:1)—“when I saw that which was good among [the Lamanites] I was desirous that they should not be destroyed.”

·         Joy in others’ good qualities—“I... do rejoice in the greatness of your heart” (Alma 61:9).

·         Understanding, looking beyond differences to more important matters—“now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry” (Alma 61:9). What a great example of moving on and focusing on what matters.

·         Ability to love, to have unity and no contention—“there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Ne. 1:15). And note, it’s not that everyone is exactly alike and thinks alike. It’s because of their love for one another.

·         Leading others to God—“Moroni... had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God” (Alma 48:7). I couldn’t figure out exactly how to characterize this, but it feels like a trait that comes from our Heavenly Parents.

·         Teaching—he “caused that they should be taught...that thereby they might become men of understanding” (Mos. 1:2).

·         Justice (Mos. 5:15)

·         Mercy (Mos. 5:15, Alma 19:29, 3 Ne. 28:32)

·         Patience (Mos. 24:16, 3 Ne. 28:32).

·         Forgiveness—“as often as my people repent will I forgive them” (Mos. 26:30; see also 3 Ne. 28:32, Alma 61:9).

·         Equality, fairness—the judgments of God come upon all nations (2 Ne. 25:3).

·         Giving credit where it’s due—“I will not boat of myself, but I will boast of my God” (Alma 26:12)

·         Service/helping others—“he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction” (Alma 55:19); helping in various ways—comforting them, giving substance, feeding hungry (Alma 4:13–14; see also Mos. 5:15).

·         Compassion, empathy—“willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort” (Mos. 18:9; also Eth. 1:35, Mos. 9:1).

·         A deep capacity for love and concern over the souls of those you love—“I desire that ye should remember to observe the statues...of the Lord;...this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning” (2 Ne. 1:16).

Part 1: Aspects That Lead Us Closer to Divinity

Seek blessings from the Lord.

I start the list with traits that are perhaps not directly godlike (for example, it doesn’t seem quite correct that Heavenly Father and Mother “rely on Christ,” and “obedience to God” it a bit redundant there). But I believe these are traits that can help us to grow up to become more like our Heavenly Parents.

I think of these as “growing up” traits. We are, essentially, children who are meant to grow up to be gods. So, just like children have to take lots of little steps in their development—they don’t come out of the womb knowing how to read, for example—we have to take little steps toward godhood. These are traits that will help us do so. I’ve also tried to loosely organize these traits in “order”—sort of building on each other, though that’s not really an exact progression.

What do I see as the biggest ones here? Belief in God’s ability to help us (trust in God, reliance on Christ) and willingness to change and grow. They are certainly the areas that I need to work on the most.

·         Seeking inspiration and answers (1 Ne. 15:8).

·         Faith (Mos. 24:16, Alma 38:2–3, Alma 53:20–21, Eth. 3:4).

·         Willingness to believe in Christ (Hel. 6:36).

·         Trust in God that He will make weak things strong—“we trust God will deliver us, notwithstanding the weakness of our armies” (Alma 58:37).

·         Reliance on Christ—“relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and finisher of their faith” (Mor. 6:4).

·         Listening to the Spirit—paying attention and speaking what the Spirit prompts (Hel. 13:5, Jac. 4:15).

·         Obedience to God (1 Ne. 16:8).

·         Capacity for growth and change—they “did humble themselves before the Lord” (1 Ne. 15:20), they changed for the better.

·         Seeking blessings earnestly—“cry again unto the Lord” (Eth. 1:36).

·         Remembering the gifts of God (Eth. 7:27).

·         Repentance (Mos. 4:2, Moro. 8:24).

·         Humility (Mos. 21:14).

·         Firm decision not to return to sin—once they repented, the people would not go to war again (Alma 24:13).

·         Receiving God’s grace—“they did abound in the grace of God” (Mos. 27:5).

·         Total change of heart, with desire to do good (Alma 24:18).

Divine Nature and the Book of Mormon: Part 0

“I have inherited divine qualities, which I will strive to develop.”

These are the words to help describe the purpose of the value Divine Nature in the Personal Progress program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The emphasis throughout the whole program is on goal-setting, developing, and growth in a number of areas—“divine nature” being one of them.

Divine Nature is the category that I have always had the hardest time with. It’s part of a very complicated relationship I have with gender roles and what aspects of gender roles are actually a part of God’s divine plan for us and what aspects are just culture. There’s a lot that could be said on that, but I’m not going to delve into that.

Instead, I will tell you of the “wrestle which I had before God” (Enos 1:2). Or really, I will tell you how I decided to try to understand divine nature better.

To try to learn more about divine nature and what attributes and qualities we have inherited from our Heavenly Parents, I decided to re-read the Book of Mormon last Oct/Nov/Dec with a sole focus on seeking out qualities of divine nature and its examples in the scripture.

The process, honestly, was illuminating. I saw so many attributes that I would not have noticed before, but when I pondered and really asked the question, “Does this count as a godly quality that we have gained by being children of a Heavenly Father and Mother?” the Spirit said, “Yes.”

I kept a list, and it grew a little larger than I expected (as you will see). And then I tried to organize and sort them so that I could really look at and see them in myself and others.

Do I think we all have these traits equally? Of course not. For example, I feel like I lack a lot of the natural talent for nurturing and motherhood that some women seem to have in spades. But I think all of these traits are seeds that can be planted, if we choose, and that can grow into powerful traits that manifest the Divine Nature in all of us.

Because I found so many, I’ll be posting them in batches over the next few weeks. I’ve tried to categorize them, as I said, but obviously this is neither a comprehensive list nor a perfect one. This is just the way I’ve seen it as I’ve studied over the last few months.

And now, without further ado, Part 1!