Lessons from a Name
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 3696
It’s interesting that God has asked us to call Him Father. He could have requested us to call Him many things, such as Majesty, Creator, Excellency, Lord, or King. These titles and others like them are very fitting. However, when we talk with God, He desires us to simply address Him as Father.
We learn much from this. As the apostle Paul taught, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."1 When we understand that we are children of a Heavenly Father, we learn a lot about ourselves. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."2 Just as we obtain physical characteristics (such as blood type, hair, and eye color) from our earthly parents, we inherit many spiritual characteristics from our Heavenly Father. Because many of these characteristics are still in embryo, we may get discouraged and think the full development of them is impossible. At those times, we need to remember how much time, effort, and patience it took to learn to ride a bike or jump a rope.
A mother was reminded of this one day as she watched her three-year-old son put his feet in his father’s shoes. With great effort, he stood and tried walking across the room. Dragging the shoes awkwardly, he stumbled and fell after only a few feet. Dejectedly, he looked up and asked, “Can you make my feet fit?”
Sometimes we want a magical change to make us into something bigger or better or more. However, godly characteristics need time, nurturing, and patience to develop fully. We shouldn’t think less of ourselves when we stumble and make mistakes. We should continue to strive to emulate our Heavenly Father—to recognize our inherited capacities and qualities—and then nurture and build on those characteristics until they become a perfect fit.
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