Hebrews 12:9
God Is the Father of Our Spirits
Why do you think we talk so much about being children of God? How could this knowledge affect your life? While reminding the Hebrew Saints about the correction they received from their earthly fathers, Paul taught them about Heavenly Father, the “Father of Spirits” (Hebrews 12:9). This lesson is intended to help you come to know Heavenly Father better and understand how your knowledge of and relationship with Him can positively impact your life.
A surprising lesson from lions in a zoo
In a worldwide devotional for young adults, Sister Kathy Clayton, wife of Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Seventy, shared her experience visiting a zoo in Argentina where she was able to enter the pens and interact with wild animals such as lions. When Sister Clayton questioned why dangerous animals were allowed such close interaction with humans, she learned something that surprised her. You may want to watch the video “A Regal Identity,” available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 1:22 to 3:26, or read the following text.
[The trainers] called my attention to the several little dogs who likewise inhabited those pens. They told me that one of the things that they had done was to raise the lions with those dogs constantly at their sides. When the lions were very small, those yappy dogs were bigger than the lion cubs. The dogs believed that they were in charge, and they chased the lions mercilessly and nipped unkindly at their heels. The baby lion cubs became accustomed to cowering in the corner and behaving as if they were terribly afraid of the pesky little dogs.
When the lions grew, they continued to cower in the corner and fear the small dogs. With the flick of a paw, any one of those large lions could easily have sent those dogs flying clear out of the pen, but the lions didn’t see themselves as they really were. They were painfully unaware of their regal identity. They were stuck and limited by a mistaken notion of their potential. They thought they were small and weak, so they allowed pesky, persistent dogs to control and intimidate them.
(Kathy Kipp Clayton, “A Regal Identity” [worldwide devotional for young adults, September 13, 2015], broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)
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What spiritual comparisons might we make with Sister Clayton’s experience?
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How might we sometimes be like the lions in this zoo?
God is “the Father of spirits”
While addressing the Hebrews about how to respond to chastening, or correction, from God (see Hebrews 12:6–8), Paul taught an important truth about our relationship to Heavenly Father. As you study today, pay attention to promptings from the Spirit that can help you better understand this truth.
Read Hebrews 12:9, and consider marking words or phrases that teach about our relationship to Heavenly Father. Note that the phrase “in subjection unto” refers to submitting to or being influenced by someone.
Hebrews 12:9 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily.
From this verse we learn that God is the Father of our spirits.
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How does knowing this truth affect how you feel about yourself and others?
Elder Tad R. Callister of the Seventy shared an example of how remembering our identity as children of God can impact us:
At a recent training session for General Authorities, the question was asked: “How can we help those struggling with pornography?”
Elder Russell M. Nelson stood and replied, “Teach them their identity and their purpose.”
That answer resonated with me, not only as a response to that specific question but as an appropriate response to most of the challenges we face in life.
(Tad R. Callister, “Our Identity and Our Destiny” [Brigham Young University devotional, Aug. 14, 2012], 1, speeches.byu.edu)
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How can understanding our identity as children of God help us with the challenges we face?
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What are some worldly influences that can distract us from remembering our divine identity?
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What can help us remember and honor our divine identity?
A correct knowledge of Heavenly Father
Reflect for a moment about your own understanding of Heavenly Father and your relationship with Him. Consider what blessings you have experienced and can experience in the future because you are His child. Think about what could be different in your life if you knew Him better and felt closer to Him.
Brother Brian K. Ashton, formerly of the Sunday School General Presidency, emphasized the impact of having a correct understanding of Heavenly Father and our relationship to Him:
Having “a correct idea of [Heavenly Father’s] character, perfections, and attributes” is essential to exercising faith sufficient to obtain exaltation [Lectures on Faith (1985), 38]. A correct understanding of Heavenly Father’s character can change how we see ourselves and others and help us to understand God’s tremendous love for His children and His great desire to help us become like Him. An incorrect view of His nature can leave us feeling as if we are incapable of ever making it back to His presence.
(Brian K. Ashton, “The Father,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 93–94)
One way we can gain a correct understanding of our Heavenly Father is by studying scriptures about Him.
1. In your study journal, complete the following activity, including responding to the questions at the end.
Take a few minutes to read and ponder a few scriptures that teach of God’s character. You could use the following scripture references, or you could search for others in Topical Guide, “God, Attributes of” (this heading lists other headings you can search under) or in Guide to the Scriptures, “God, Godhead” (the subsection on God the Father). In your study journal, list what these scriptures teach you about the character and attributes of Heavenly Father and about your relationship to Him.
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What truths did you learn about God that are most meaningful to you? Why are they meaningful?
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How could what you learned affect how you feel about who you are and who you can become?
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What actions do you feel inspired to take based on what you have learned and felt today?
Optional: Want to Learn More?
How can knowing that I am a child of God help me?
President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:
Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song “I Am a Child of God” [Hymns, no. 301]. … Here is the answer to one of life’s great questions, “Who am I?” I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents. That parentage defines our eternal potential. That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant. It can strengthen each of us to make righteous choices and to seek the best that is within us.
(Dallin H. Oaks, “Powerful Ideas,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 25)
Why don’t we talk more about our Mother in Heaven?
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. …
“As with many other truths of the gospel, our present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited. Nevertheless, we have been given sufficient knowledge to appreciate the sacredness of this doctrine and to comprehend the divine pattern established for us as children of heavenly parents” (Gospel Topics Essays, “Mother in Heaven,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
How does Jesus Christ’s life teach about the character of Heavenly Father?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
In all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven. …
So feeding the hungry, healing the sick, rebuking hypocrisy, pleading for faith—this was Christ showing us the way of the Father, He who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness” [Lectures on Faith (1985), 42]. In His life and especially in His death, Christ was declaring, “This is God’s compassion I am showing you, as well as that of my own.” In the perfect Son’s manifestation of the perfect Father’s care, in Their mutual suffering and shared sorrow for the sins and heartaches of the rest of us, we see ultimate meaning in the declaration: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” [John 3:16–17].
(Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Grandeur of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 70, 72)