Only Christ Can Heal All, Brother Callister Says at BYU Women’s Conference
Contributed By R. Scott Lloyd, Church News staff writer
Women from around the world attend BYU Women’s Conference May 4. Photo courtesy BYU Photo.
Article Highlights
- Knowing that we are children of God and being obedient are critical to spiritual and emotional well-being.
- The ultimate healing balm will be found in Christ’s atoning powers.
“Satan wants women to focus on their weaknesses and shortcomings, both real and imagined; the Lord wants them to focus on their divine identity and destiny.” —Brother Tadd R. Callister, Sunday School General President
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PROVO, UTAH
Without Christ, there is no permanent healing, but with Him, there is no affliction that cannot be healed, Brother Tad R. Callister declared at the annual Women’s Conference at Brigham Young University.
“Of course, there are other resources that may exist, but for the healing process to be complete it must be centered in Jesus Christ,” said Brother Callister, Sunday School General President and an emeritus General Authority.
After speaking with a number of women, Elder Callister listed some of the more common issues women face:
- A husband addicted to pornography or unfaithful in other ways
- A child who has gone astray spiritually
- The trials of a divorce
- The loneliness of singlehood
- The challenges of motherhood
- Thoughts that others seem more beautiful, competent, intelligent, or spiritual
- Feelings of worthlessness or, perhaps, thoughts of suicide
“I speak today in hopes that you will draw upon the healing powers of the Savior and that you will recognize your inestimable worth and your unlimited possibilities as a daughter of God,” Brother Callister said.
The requirements for healing might be summed up in the single word obedience, Brother Callister suggested.
“I think God has little concern for our worldly titles or secular ambitions but great concern for our obedience and submissiveness to His will,” he said. No Church calling, political office, business title, or worldly award supersedes the role of mother or father, husband or wife, he continued.
Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President.
The title mother is not just reserved for those who currently have children, but, in a scriptural sense, every woman has the seeds of attributes of motherhood in her, Brother Callister said.
Every exalted woman will be brighter and more intelligent than any genius the world has produced, more beautiful than any earthy creation, and will have a fulness of glory and “a continuation of the seeds forever and ever” (D&C 132:19), he said.
“I pay tribute to the women of this dispensation who seek first and foremost to be mothers and spouses and obedient disciples of Jesus Christ.”
Brother Callister said a divine perspective—“knowing that we are children of God and that obedience is the key to happiness and exaltation”—is critical to spiritual and emotional well-being.
“Satan wants women to focus on their weaknesses and shortcomings, both real and imagined; the Lord wants them to focus on their divine identity and destiny,” he said.
Brother Callister quoted Elder LeGrand Richards, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1952 to 1983, who said, “I just do the best I can and leave the worrying to the Lord.” Brother Callister said, “To me, that is good, practical advice—a helpful, healing remedy for our fears, discouragement, and concern.”
Brother Callister also quoted advice from President George Albert Smith: “Give the Lord a chance. … Ask Him to open the way.”
“I hope you will never give up on the Lord,” Brother Callister said. “That, I believe, is one thing we must never do; it is one of the conditions to receiving His healing power—to never lose faith in Him—to never throw in the towel or surrender to the false narrative that He doesn’t love you or care about you or somehow has forgotten you.”
Brother Callister said that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Savior’s powers are infinite. “There is no rejection, no loneliness, no despair, no sin, and no condition to which we can sink for which the Savior’s healing powers do not have the perfect remedy. Sometimes that remedy will include seeking appropriate medical and emotional care, for the Lord expects us to do all within our power to assist in the healing process, but the ultimate healing balm will be found in His atoning powers.”
Women from around the world attend BYU Women’s Conference May 4. Photo courtesy BYU Photo.
Women from around the world attend BYU Women’s Conference May 4. Photo courtesy BYU Photo.
Women from around the world attend BYU Women’s Conference May 4. Photo courtesy BYU Photo.
