This lesson opens up by mentioning the poem "The Touch of the Masters Hand", which is about an old violin that is being auctioned off. It looks old and of little use. The auctioneer starts at one dollar and the bidding gets to three before an older man comes to the front, dusts off the violin and fixes some of the strings. He plays a beautiful song and the auctioneer then starts back up the bidding at one thousand dollars, where it then goes for two thousand then three thousand. The poem ends by asking, "what changed the worth of the violin?" and then answers "the touch of the master's hand."
Our creator knows us, he knows how to strengthen us and put us back together when we feel broken. When we feel like the old violin, we need to remember that we still have so much value and worth. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can and will pick us up and dust us off.
"Examine how a strong sense of individual worth positively influences family life, and suggest ways to strengthen children's sense of worth"
Such a good question to ponder: how can we strengthen our children's sense of worth?
Eternal Truths:
We do not create our worth, we are given it.
Our worth is a gift from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
We discover our worth through the Holy Ghost.
Nothing we can do can change/diminish our worth, it is always there and never changes.
"Understanding and gaining a conviction of these eternal truths can be one of our greatest blessings in life because of the confidence and security it provides."
Worthiness vs Individual Worth
No one can affect your individual worth
Unworthy is not equivalent to worthless
Nothing you can do can change your worth
Individual Worth and Family Relationships
"While knowing the truth about our individual worth can help us in our relationships with family members, confusion can lead us to act in harmful ways. For example, a parent might be lax on rules at home, not wanting to damage children's self-esteem by correcting their behavior. Paradoxically, the ability to live up to a standard and grow through making productive changes builds self-worth rather than decreasing it."
Elder Nelson said, "In order to feel joy you must feel good about yourself—not in any sense of conceit, but simply a proper esteem for yourself, well deserved”
This section then goes over the continuum of Self Love to Self Hate and how Satan doesn't really care which end of the spectrum you are on because each end causes you to focus on yourself.
It then talks about how we are not expected to be perfect and its okay to struggle with self identity and finding out who you are, that is what the Atonement is for. I loved this quote by Bruce Hafen:
"Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life's purpose."
This analogy of flowers and weeds was too good to not share:
"We grow in two ways—removing negative weeds and cultivating positive flowers. The Savior's grace blesses both parts—if we do our part. First and repeatedly we must uproot the weeds of sin and bad choices. It isn't enough just to mow the weeds. Yank them out by the roots, repenting fully to satisfy the conditions of mercy. But being forgiven is only part of our growth. We are not just paying a debt. Our purpose is to become celestial beings. So once we've cleared our heartland, we must continually plant, weed, and nourish the seeds of divine qualities. And then as our sweat and discipline stretch us to meet His gifts, “the flow'rs of grace appear,” like hope and meekness. Even a tree of life can take root in this heart-garden, bearing fruit so sweet that it lightens all our burdens “through the joy of his Son.” And when the flower of charity blooms here, we will love others with the power of Christ's own love. We need grace both to overcome sinful weeds and to grow divine flowers. We can do neither one fully by ourselves."
"If the Lord sees greatness in you, how then should you see yourself?"
Building Children's Sense of Self-worth
In the home you can create an environment where your children can learn and grow. They can learn how much they are worth by what their family life looks like at home. The way that children view their self worth affects themselves, their siblings and their parents. Make it a goal in your home to help your children and spouse know and understand who they are. One thing that I loved in this section was that children need coaches not cheerleaders (not to say that coaches don't cheer you on, they definitely do). It goes on to say that self esteem is not built and strengthened by compliments but by:
Competency: mastering talents, the ability to do more things better
Power: exerting an appropriate level of control in their own lives
Acceptance: feeling that they belong to a group and are cared about
Virtue: developing standards and the ability to hold to them.
Self Identity
We can help our children identify who they are and their purpose by teaching them the importance of how God created them, including their gender. Gender is an important aspect of our lives, our future and was an essential part of our pre-mortal life.
In conclusion, it is so important for us all to understand our self worth. We need to know that our worth is everlasting and unchangeable. It mentions the paradox of being nothing and everything to God at the same time.
"As we walk the road of life, it is helpful to imagine that we have two pieces of paper in our pockets. In one pocket, the note says, “You are the dust of the earth; you are nothing.” You pull this out when you're feeling arrogant, self-satisfied, or too independent. In the other pocket, you have a note bearing the message “You are a child of God; for you was this world made, and you are endowed with a divine birthright.” You read this note when you are discouraged and feel like you can't go on."
A deep understanding of who you are can change your heart and your home.
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