Esteeming Your Brother as Yourself

In a January 1831 revelation, the Lord gave some counsel to members of His newly organized church. Then, for emphasis, He repeated the counsel a second time:

Let every man esteem his brother as himself, and practice virtue and holiness before me.

And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.

Doctrine and Covenants 38:24-25

This counsel underscores a central truth: God loves all of His children and invites us to see them as He sees them.

The prophet Alma understood this principle. Even though he had been part of the elite class—one of the priests of King Noah—he refused to be king after establishing the church at the waters of Mormon. “It is not expedient that we should have a king,” he told his people in the land of Helam, “for thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another” (Mosiah 23:7).

After Alma and his people migrated to Zarahemla, King Mosiah issued a proclamation declaring this principle to all of the Nephites:

There should be no persecutions among them, that there should be an equality among all men

That they should let no pride nor haughtiness disturb their peace; that every man should esteem his neighbor as himself,

Mosiah 27:3-4

Alma’s son later urged the people of Zarahemla to reform their attitudes about the relative worth of different people. “Will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another?” he asked (Alma 5:54). This echoed the earlier teaching of Jacob, who accused his people of persecuting others, “because ye suppose that ye are better than they” (Jacob 2:13).

“The Lord esteemeth all flesh in one,” taught Nephi (1 Nephi 17:35). Life gives us so many opportunities to assigned different levels of value to different people. Organizational structures imply that the boss is more important than the employees. Wealth and income suggest that some people are more valuable than others. Skills and accomplishments may cause us to elevate some people to celebrity status, exaggerating their strengths and minimizing their flaws.

Peer relationships often generate unhealthy competition. Team members have a tendency to view one another as rivals, whereas the team leader usually just wants everyone to get along and work together. No wonder the Savior had to repeatedly intervene as His apostles disputed their relative status. On one such occasion, He said, “He that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve” (Luke 22:26).

In the 1831 revelation, He shared a brief parable illustrating the same principle:

What man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just?

Doctrine and Covenants 38:26

This parable may have multiple messages, but one of them is simply this: If you’re tempted to rank yourself above or below someone else, think about your Heavenly Father’s point of view. Does He value one of you more than the other? Does He want you both to be successful? Won’t you be happier if you adopt His perspective?

Today, I will honor the worth of every child of God. I will resist the human tendency to rank or categorize people. I will strive to treat each person according to their infinite worth and divine potential.