The Dignity Index when Disagreeing

 

Doing Disagreement Better

By Julia K. Nebeker (BA ’24) and Anna E. Sneddon (’27) in the Spring 2025 Issue, BYU Magazine

Disagree Better recommends four steps: being curious, listening to understand, respecting opinions, and finding common ground. “The intention of our disagreement should be to come to understand each other and ourselves better,” Viray says....

Listening to understand—not rebut—is the key to respect and understanding, she says. It’s how we improve relationships with friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers.

Perfectionism

 "The Perfect Problem"

By Brooklyn Hughes Roemer (BA ’22) in the Spring 2025 Issue, BYU Magazine

Jenet Jacob Erickson (BS ’97, MA ’00), a religion professor and family life researcher, says parents can watch how their children respond to failure. “Are they really dysregulated by what they perceive as failure?” Nobody likes failing, but especially strong reactions—be they tantrums, panic attacks, or depressive episodes—can signal that perfectionism is at play....

“Kids are really perceptive,” Erickson says, and they can inherit unhealthy perfectionistic mindsets from their parents: “When parents have high expectations for their children, frequently express criticism or disappointment, and then withdraw love by either not being as happy, not being as loving, not being as connected, then children are more likely to develop toxic perfectionism.”

The Answer is Always Jesus

" Jesus is the Answer"

By Kevin R. Duncan (BS ’91, MACC ’91, JD ’91) in the Spring 2025 issue, BYU Magazine

Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them. [3 Ne. 17:7; emphasis added]...

 The Church isn’t a showroom for the perfect. It’s a hospital for the spiritually weary, for the lonely, and for anyone who feels like they don’t belong—which I now realize is just about everyone at some point in their life....

My friends, your challenges might not look like mine did, but the answer is always the same: the answer is Jesus Christ. Every challenge you will face is an opportunity to draw closer to the Savior and see Him perform miracles in your life....

Brothers and sisters, the Savior’s tender invitation echoes through the ages: “Have ye any that are sick among you . . . or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them.”

His power to heal extends far beyond physical ailments; it reaches into the depths of our hearts, restoring hope, peace, and strength.

When we Struggle...

 

Where Sin Causes Chaos, Christ Brings Peace

By Chakell Wardleigh Herbert

Church Magazines

We all make mistakes. But when we struggle with sins or habits that we can’t seem to overcome, no matter how hard we try to change, it’s easy to feel a sense of disarray. With the spiritual side of us pulling toward heaven and the mortal side tugging us toward the world, it can feel like a constant internal tug-of-war.

Whether we struggle with things like gossip, anger, unrighteous judgment, engaging with too much media, pornography use, or anything else, the adversary is quick to fan flames of shame, hopelessness, and ultimately, spiritual chaos.

Fortunately for us, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know how to handle chaos...

If He could bring order to the universe, imagine what can happen when you turn to His Son for healing and redeeming power each day. When you feel like you’re burdened by your struggles and the darkness of the world, reaching for Christ’s light is the first step toward peace and divine organization...

Whatever you might struggle with, when you turn to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for help, They can always restore what is in shambles, free you from the chaos of sins and temptations, and beautify your life.

They’ve done it time and time again.

Promising in the Abrahamic Covenant

 

Seeking Christ and Covenants: Nephi’s Keys to Reading the Old Testament

By David R. Seely

Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University

As we read the Old Testament, we can look for indications of the Lord upholding the promises made in the Abrahamic covenant. The three most prominent blessings are land, which symbolizes an inheritance in Heavenly Father’s kingdom; posterity, which is a promise of eternal increase; and blessings of the gospel and the priesthood, “which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal” (Abraham 2:11).

Being Grateful in our Circumstances

 Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has perfectly described what I experienced: “When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Grateful in Any Circumstances,” Liahona, May 2014, 75.

Peace and Joy, Not Grief, Dominated My Heart. Why?

By Carma Lee Call Ellingson

Only God Can Condemn His Chosen Servants

 

Faithfulness and Prophets—Past and Present

By Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt

Of the Seventy

In the April 2019 general conference, President Eyring quoted this teaching of President George Q. Cannon (1827–1901), First Counselor in the First Presidency: “God has chosen His servants. He claims it as His prerogative to condemn them, if they need condemnation. He has not given it to us individually to censure and condemn them. No man, however strong he may be in the faith, however high in the Priesthood, can speak evil of the Lord’s anointed and find fault with God’s authority on the earth without incurring His displeasure. The Holy Spirit will withdraw himself from such a man, and he will go into darkness. This being the case, do you not see how important it is that we should be careful?”...

Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, ed. Jerreld L. Newquist (1974), 1:278; see also Henry B. Eyring, “The Power of Sustaining Faith,” Liahona, May 2019, 59.

Another key principle is to avoid exceeding our authority or assuming roles we don’t have. These mindsets deceive us into thinking too highly of our own opinions, which naturally occurs when we think too lowly of the teachings of prophets and apostles. Condemning prophets and apostles, including those of the past, obviously exceeds our authority, as the Lord reserves this ability to Himself. I am fully confident that our all-knowing, loving, and merciful Savior has addressed or will address and eagerly forgive any mistakes or imperfections of the past, as we hope He will do for us in the present....

What we may perceive as imperfections in their words or actions may, in fact, reflect imperfection in our perception or mortal understanding. Remembering that the Lord’s ways are higher than our ways and that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (see Isaiah 55:8–9) allows us to avoid judging prophets, including those of the past. This humble attitude enables us to give heed to the words of living prophets “in all patience and faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:5; see also 1:28).