Identity confers confidence and purpose.
When God appeared to Moses, He identified Himself as “the Lord God Almighty,” the Creator of the universe. He then declared Moses’s identity: “And behold, thou art my son” (Moses 1:3-4). When Satan subsequently tried to tempt and intimidate Moses, he responded by reiterating his divine nature:
I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?
Moses 1:13
Mormon likewise spoke with confidence about his identity, grounded in his relationship with God:
Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.
3 Nephi 5:13
And the Savior built up the confidence of the Nephites and Lamanites in Bountiful by declaring an identity they had inherited through covenants made by their ancestors:
Ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant.
3 Nephi 20:25-26
These three identities—child of God, disciple of Jesus Christ, and child of the covenant—are all relational in nature. We draw strength and confidence from our connection with God, in spite of our own weaknesses and shortcomings. Moses resisted Satan even after recognizing that “man is nothing” compared with the glory of God (Moses 1:10).
In 2022, President Russell M. Nelson urged us to prioritize these three identities over worldly labels. He explained:
There are various labels that may be very important to you, of course. … I am not saying that other designations and identifiers are not significant. I am simply saying that no identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over these three enduring designations: “child of God,” “child of the covenant,” and “disciple of Jesus Christ.”
Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down. Other labels will disappoint you in time because they do not have the power to lead you toward eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God.
Worldly identifiers will never give you a vision of who you can ultimately become. They will never affirm your divine DNA or your unlimited, divine potential.
“Choices for Eternity,” Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, 15 May 2022
Today, I will remember my core identity as a child of God, my covenant relationship with Him, and my commitment to follow the guidance of His Son. I will let these identities give me confidence, in spite of my limitations, trusting in my connection with God and my divine potential.
Thank you, and as a spirit child of God, capable of therefore of becoming like Him, through His Atonement and power, I rely more earnestly on Him and His efforts past present and future rather than on my own limited efforts which are inadequate to say the least.