Divine Nature Value Experience #1

Read Proclamation to the Family, 2 Peter 1, Alma 7: 23-24 and Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 and list the divine qualities of a daughter of God. Think about how you can discover and develop each of these qualities. Record your ideas in your journal.

Divine Qualities of a Daughter of God:

• escape corruption due to lust
• virtue
• knowledge
• faith
• brotherly kindness
• charity
• humble
• submissive and gentle
• temperate
• diligent
• pray for the things you need
• give thanks to God
• hope
• abound in good works
• full of patience and long suffering - this also pertains to my thoughts about "spiritual impressions" of convenience v. actual impressions of the Spirit for our own good (there will be another post coming shortly on this touchy topic)
• let virtue garnish they thoughts unceasingly (then you can be confident in the presence of God and the priesthood shall distill upon they soul as the dews from heaven) Ponder the word dew. What are the characteristics of dew? What is its purpose? How does it make you feel to walk out and see the greenery on a dewy morning?

Let's face it, this is no short order. And I only do a few of these things marginally well. I do none of them consistently or exceptionally well. At least we have a lifetime to get there, right?

I can clearly see how each of these attributes make a well-rounded daughter of God. Most people think of their mom and good friends as a nurturer, caregiver, empathetic person, service driven, loving safe place to go when the world is rough. Becoming all of those things is quite the challenge. I contend that you will most likely never be all of these things all of the time in this lifetime. But, we can certainly practice trying to be as many of them as we can at any one time. I figure if you can manage to be even just a few of these things in this nasty world, even for a moment, you have blessed your life and the lives of those you touch.

The blessings that can come from a sustained effort to have these qualities are many. You don't have to be a genius to see that a home where a mom is kind, patient, quick to help, speaks softly, and gives unconditional love is one that is stable with happy children and a happy husband. People who exhibit these traits make friends easily, keep those friends and enrich the lives of those friends. We all know people like that. The kind of people that are just nice to be around. (Now, don't go to thinking that just because I know the value of these things means I'm living these things perfectly.)

So, the magic question is: how? The magic answer: hard work. Couple that with prayer and discipline (read: conquer the natural man) and you will find that it becomes easier and easier to have these qualities as part of who you are. If you do it enough, it will no longer seem like you are just doing the action because you need to. You will become those traits. Just as with less favorable traits and habits, eventually they will define you if you do them long enough. If you do something good and worthwhile long enough, you will become that good thing. It will define you.
As with many of the challenges of the gospel the key to achieving your goals is very simple (in theory). Just do it.

I will add, lastly, that I don't think you have to lose yourself in order to add these qualities to your persona. I'm a sarcastic, pessimistic, honest-to-a-fault, don't-mince-my-words kinda gal. Kind of like a female version of Simon Cowl. I will always have veins of those traits as part of who I am. Those things define me. But, I know I can be more divine in the way I behave and ultimately, how I feel. I do believe, that I can keep some parts of me and add unto them. I do also believe, for example, that you cannot simultaneously be pessimistic and exhibit faith and hope. They just don't go together. Such is the case for many of these traits. You cannot serve two masters. So, the goal here would be to eventually replace the pessimism with more faith and hope. You are simply choosing the better part. I do think you can do this while maintaining yourself. Obviously, we are each unique and loved for our special personalities, talents and traits. Heavenly Father wouldn't want us to all be exactly alike. But, as with many of the habits of happy, eternity bound folks, there are common things we should do. Just because something is popular, doesn't mean it's bad. If you know a lot of people who are happy, would you be miserable just to be different? I think not. You can be happy and still be an individual. This philosophy can apply to much about life and living the gospel. Be who you are, but embrace the habits, qualities, traits, and standards that our Heavenly Father has outlined for us - for those are the things that will bring us true joy. It will be hard. It will be frustrating. We may not master them with perfection. But, you still gotta do it. So: just do it.