Teach Me What I Must Be

Sterling W. Sill once said, “Each of us has two creators, God and ourselves.  In this job of creation, God provides the capital but we are expected to furnish the labor.”

What comforts me in this creation process is that it is not a do-it-yourself project.  We have help.  We have parents, siblings, children, Church family and friends that all play an important part in who we become.

I had the opportunity to sit in a lecture with Susan Easton Black, a Church history professor at Brigham Young University.  Her remarks opened up a new idea to me concerning this creation process that is a part of us all.  As I pondered her concepts they became a springboard in expanding my understanding of the ideas she shared.

Several years ago President Spencer W. Kimball asked that a word in the primary song, “I am a Child of God” be changed.  In the original version we sang…”Teach me, guide me, walk beside me. Help me find the way.  Teach me all that I must KNOW to live with Him someday.”

President Kimball suggested that we have moved beyond just knowing; he suggested that we sing, “Teach me all that I must DO to live with Him someday.”

Sister Black presented the idea that we need to think deeper yet.  She commented that we should be singing, “Teach me all that I must BE to live with Him someday.”

A new idea opened up to me.  She put my understanding of progression at a higher level and furnished me with a tool I could use in this “labor” part of my own creation and that of my children as well.

In thinking about this concept, To Know, To Do, To Be,  I came to realize that “To Be,” is really, “I am” when the verb is conjugated putting it into the present tense.  I find it interesting that one of the names our Savior uses in reference to Himself is, “I Am.”  We are always being challenged to become like the Savior or, in other words “To be” an “I am” person.  When we sing, “Teach me all that I must BE to live with Him someday”, we are really saying teach me to be one with the Savior in actions and purpose.  As individuals and parents our aim should be to teach our children to become an “I am” member of the Church.  We all know those Church members.  They are the ones we all look up to and respect because of their living the gospel unquestioningly.

You can take any principle of the gospel and teach it to your family by using the following simple approach.  For example, if you want your child to learn the principle of tithing you must first, teach them to know why they need to tithe.  Second, do the act of paying a full tithing on a regular basis.  It is the process and consistency that is important at this point.  Third, when it becomes a habit to pay a full tithing it then becomes second nature and is no longer a struggle.  Your child becomes that “To Be” or “I Am,” person in the principle that you are trying to help them develop within themselves.  With any gospel principle that you want your child to learn or understand, try this same approach.  It will work.  First I know, then I do, and finally I am.

I find myself thinking of the questions asked during the temple recommend interview.  If you could reword those questions from a “yes” or “no” answer, what a different meaning it would take on if you could answer simply “I am” to every question.  Striving to become like the Savior takes on an easy step-by-step approach.  It is a good self-test to see how you are doing in this creation process and tells how much more labor you have to put in.

As this New Year begins and goals are being set remind your children that they are not alone in this process of becoming.  There are parents, sibling, good fiends and ward family waiting to help but most importantly a Father in Heaven who has given them the “capital” to succeed.