Feeling Like God’s Favorite

As the parent of five children, one of my goals is to make sure each one feels loved. I try to make sure I have a personal relationship with them. I hope that if you asked them who dad’s favorite is, they would respond with, “I am.”

This is not an easy thing to do. Children notice how you parent their siblings. It is easy for children to feel jealous and think that their parents favor a different child. It’s also difficult because you can’t parent each child the same way. They don’t come packaged the same. They’re not mass-produced Barbie and Ken dolls you pick up at the time of birth.

The fact that each child is different is beautiful. As a parent, I have been richly blessed with children who have different likes, dislikes, talents, emotions, and wants. Of course, this can make things challenging but I have loved my parenting journey.

I have done my best with the five children I have. Now imagine yourself in God’s shoes having billions of children! He is a loving Father and knows how to make each one of us feel as if we are His favorite.

In “God’s Favourite“, Elder Karl D. Hirst states “Divine love never runs dry, and we are each a cherished favourite.” There are several examples in the scriptures that show how God’s children have known they were “favorited” by God. Nephi states, “I glory in my Jesus” (2 Nephi 33:6, emphasis added). John calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20).

In my life, I have had experiences where I have felt both glory in my Jesus and feel loved of Jesus. Most of the time, these experiences are “minor” but I know that I am cherished of God in them.

I think that the most personal of these experiences is when we repent of our sins and feel the warmth of God’s forgiveness. Elder Hirst states, “We can confidently disregard brokenness in any way disqualifying us from heavenly love–every time we sign the hymn that reminds us that our beloved and flawless Saviour chose to be ‘bruised, broken, [and] torn for us,’ every time we take the broken bread. . . . Through His brokenness, He became perfect, and He can make us perfect in spite of our brokenness.”

I love how Elder Hirst describes how God, and Christ, will show each of us that we are favorited of Him. “I wonder, if Jesus were to choose a place where you and He could meet, a private place where you would be able to have a singular focus on Him, might He choose your unique place of personal suffering, the place of your deepest need, where no one else can go?”

Think about that. Where would one feel most loved? Where do our children feel like they are our favorite? It’s in the times of our/their greatest need. When the struggles of life seem overwhelming. Do we not meet our children there to comfort, love, and uplift them? If we, as imperfect parents would do this, wouldn’t God be there for each of us in a more perfect way?

We should each feel like we are God’s favorite. He is always there, even if we don’t think so. He meets us in both happy and sad times; at our lowest points, and in our highest highs. He makes me feel like His favorite, and I hope you feel that you are His favorite.