President Nelson on Labels and Identity

Who are you?

First and foremost, you are a child of God.

Second, if you are a member of the Church, you are a child of the covenant. When you were baptized, you made very specific covenants with the Lord. You promised to bear others' burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those in need of comfort, and "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things."

And third, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I plead with you not to replace these three paramount and unchanging identifiers with any others, because doing so could stymie your progress or pigeonhole you into a stereotype that could potentially thwart your eternal progression.

For example, if you are identified mainly as an American, those who are not Americans may thing, "I know everything there is to know about you because you are an American." Because of this erroneous assumption, they may assign erroneous attributes to you. 

If you identify yourself by your political affiliation, you will instantly be categorized as having certain beliefs--though I don't know anyone who believes everything that their preferred political party presently embraces.

I could go on and on, rehearsing the constraints of various labels that we put on ourselves or that other people place upon us.

Some might label me as an "old man." But I'm a lot younger than Adam was--and Noah too. Ageism, racism, nationalism, sexism, and a host of other "isms" are universally limiting and are to be avoided.

...

The adversary rejoices in labels because they divide us and restrict the way we think about ourselves and each other. Labels can divide us into the kinds of tribes that divided the Nephites prior to the Lord's first coming. Tribal divisions almost always lead to animosity, misunderstanding, and even tribal warfare. How limiting it is when we essentially "choose up sides." How sad it is when we honor labels more than we honor each other.

Labels almost inevitable lead to judging and animosity. Any abuse or prejudice toward another because of nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, educational degrees, culture, or any other significant identifiers is offensive to our Maker! Such mistreatment causes us to live beneath our stature as His covenant sons and daughters!

There are various labels that may be very important to you, of course. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that other designations and identifiers are not important. I am simply saying that no identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over the three paramount, enduring designations, "child of God, "child of the covenant," and "disciple of Jesus Christ."

Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down. No other labels have the power to lead you toward eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God.

-President Russell M. Nelson, Heart of the Matter, 2023, p. 48-49.