Each individuals’ worth is “so great in the sight of God” that he gave his only begotten son, the “Lamb of God,” for them, taught Elder Brian K. Taylor in a keynote address delivered Saturday during a conference for young single adults.
“Worthy is the Lamb,” he told listeners, “and because of his holy atoning sacrifice, we’re worth everything to him and to our Heavenly Father.”
In his address, Elder Taylor — a General Authority Seventy and president of the Utah Area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — invited listeners to “open the mouth of the Lord,” or the scriptures, and learn how Christ would have them walk with him.
He specified a series of life and scriptural lessons, including lessons to turn outward and upward, seek first the kingdom of God and hand over all things to the Lord.
“I witness that he lives,” Elder Taylor said. “This isn’t a myth. This isn’t a legend. This isn’t a Marvel movie. This is God’s eternal plan of happiness for us to be with him and with his son, Jesus Christ.”
On turning outward and upward
In discussing the “worth of souls” to God, Elder Taylor taught the key to retaining a remembrance of one’s individual worth is to “turn your arrows out, instead of in.”
He showed listeners an image of two stick figures, one with arrows facing inward and the other with arrows facing outward, and then taught that when one’s thoughts or arrows turn inward, “things get pretty implosive.”
Life gets dark, discouraging and depressing, he said. “But as we turn the arrows outward, and they start going outward and upward towards heaven, things start to change.”
According to Elder Taylor, these changes include being able to comprehend the character of God, which in turn helps individuals comprehend themselves and the divine roots of their identity.
“The reality is,” he said, “if we come to know for certainty the character of God first, and we know first that we were created in his image, … we know that the seeds of divinity are within us.
“So turn the arrows out and think about God first.”
Turning outward and upward can also help individuals overcome feelings of worthlessness and unworthiness, Elder Taylor taught.
This is because in turning outward and upward, and comprehending both the character of God and one’s divine identity, individuals strengthen their ability to recognize their divine potential and that their worth in the sight of God “never changes.”
“We have God’s DNA with all the seeds of potential and perfection in us,” Elder Taylor said.
“Sometimes we need to wash ourselves and repent and go to the Savior, and he’ll wash us clean. … (But one’s) worth is always enough. It never changes. The external things do, but internally, we are spirit sons and daughters of God.”
On seeking first the kingdom of God
Turning to the Bible, Elder Taylor invited listeners to trust and “abide in” Christ, seeking first the kingdom of God.
“(Without Christ) you can do nothing eternal,” he said, commenting on Christ’s invitation to abide in him, as recorded in John 15. “(Without him) you can do nothing infinite. The only things that we can do are temporal and temporary without it being in the Lord.”
Elder Taylor then told listeners they should also honor God with their “substance.”
“Because God our father gave us his ”firstfruit” — his firstborn, the first and the last — he invites us to do the same,” he said. He acknowledged there may be times individuals question whether God or the church need their tithing, fasting or fast offerings.
But, he taught, “It’s not the church, it’s our offering. It’s our saying to our father, because thou hast given thy firstborn, I will also give my firstfruits.”
Elder Taylor promised listeners that as they choose to honor God with their substance, they will see his blessings.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you,” Elder Taylor said, reading from Matthew 6.
“This includes all things both temporal and spiritual that we’ll ever need in our lives,” he added. “So the Lord is saying if we turn our arrows out and first place them on him, we will never be found wanting.”
On handing all things over to God
God “loves to multiply and magnify stuff,” Elder Taylor said after recounting Christ’s New Testament miracle, where he multiplied a young boy’s five barley loaves and two fishes to feed at least 5,000 men, plus women and children.
Elder Taylor taught listeners that in the same way Christ can and will multiply all they willingly offer to God, no matter what or how much of it they can offer.
“The great question in this isn’t how many loaves and fishes he had,” Elder Taylor said. “The great question is — and this is a lesson of a lifetime: ‘Am I willing? … Whatever I have, am I willing to turn it to the Lord and allow him to multiply and magnify those loaves and fishes?’”
Elder Taylor affirmed Christ’s miracle “wouldn’t have been any different” had there been more or less loaves and fishes.
“He would have fed every one of them the same,” he said. Thus, he encouraged listeners not to compare their offerings to others or question if Christ can work with what they have.
“Hand whatever you have to him,” urged Elder Taylor, after which he closed his remarks with a video of Christ’s sacrifice and a testimony of God’s love for his children.
