While teaching a recent Gospel Doctrine class on the parable of the goats and sheep (Matt. 25), a sister quipped, “I do what I’m supposed to but I still feel like a goat.”
Her comment brought laughing agreement from many, but it also caused me deep thought. I know many such statements are really truth expressed through the protection of a joke.
A few weeks later I sat behind a different sister. Her son, home from Iraq, reached over almost absently, and gently touched her shoulder and stroked her hair. How touched I was to see such a small, but powerful gesture. This grown son treated her as he saw his father treat her and as he personally felt toward his mother. So natural was that tiny action I don’t think either mother or son thought about it but, from that small gesture, I knew love had been taught and lived in their home and that knowledge deeply touched me. How surprised I was to find this sister weeping later that day because she felt like a goat…unneeded and cast to the left side of life. “I can’t do anything right anymore,” she sobbed.
Unfortunately, we all feel like these sisters at times.
SEEK THE LORD’S WORDS. By immersing ourselves in His words, we will come to feel His love for us. After wickedness had brought the Jews into Babylonian captivity and subsequent despair, the prophet Jeremiah sent them a letter. He told them to build houses, plant gardens, marry. Then he told them something very powerful. Even after all their idolatry and shunning of the Lord’s commandments, Jeremiah comforts them with words from the God of Heaven, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jeremiah 29:11). How wonderful to know that the Lord still loves us, even when we wake up on the wrong side of life.
The Lord told the prophet Lehi “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). So special are we among His creations that God made us a little lower than the angels and crowned us in glory and honor (see Psalms 8:5). We are His children, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Psalms 82:6, Hosea 1:10, Acts 17:29; Rom. 8:16-17 and more). What a wonderful heritage and wonderful future!
REMEMBER GOOD TIMES. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was struggling with deep, personal despair—feeling like a goat—the Lord lovingly counseled the prophet to “remember also the promises which were made to you” (D&C 3:5). What wonderful advice! When we feel stuck in a goat’s body, we should sit down and remember all of the promises and blessings He has given us. We can find them in the scriptures, in our patriarchal blessings, at the temple, among friends, in Church and in so many more ways. We need to consciously count our many blessings, as the song counsels.
EXPRESS GRATITUDE. Did you know it is through thanksgiving and praise that we enter into His gates and into His presence (Psalms 100:4)? Why? In part because genuine, heartfelt gratitude has a wonderful way of blessing and lifting everyone's spirits and souls. It is a trait of heaven we can enjoy on earth. When was the last time you gave a gratitude prayer? Do it today. Don’t ask the Lord for a thing. Merely thank Him for all He has already given. When you are done, commit to spend the whole day in gratitude. Thank your co-workers for their help, express appreciation to your spouse, tell a child why you love him so much. By the end of the day you will be much closer to the Lord and a lot of your despair will have melted away through gratitude.
SERVE OTHERS. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt 25:40). This masterful comment by the Savior is found in connection with the parable of the goats and the sheep. It is service that separates the goat from the sheep. When we feel like goats, we should lose ourselves in the service of others. We can serve them physically, emotionally or spiritually. All are valued service in the eyes of the Lord. Serving others will not make our problems go away, but it will help us not to think about them for a while. During the time we serve others the Lord will lighten our hearts and our minds.
ABOVE ALL “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God…For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh…that all men might repent and come unto him” (D&C 18:10-11).
That’s why He died for us—because we are His sheep, not his goats. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Confronting the Myth of Self-Esteem: Twelve Keys to Finding Peace
