The relationship which we sustain to God our Father

The relationship which we sustain to God our Father, as well as to the [p. 300b] world at large, if properly understood and appreciated, is calculated to wake us up to the performance of the duties required of us as Latter-day Saints. We ought to understand that we have espoused a system of religion that is calculated in its nature to increase within us wisdom and knowledge; that we have entered upon a path that is progressive, that will increase our spiritual, intellectual and physical advantages, and everything pertaining to our own happiness and the well-being of the world at large. We believe that we are the offspring of our Father in heaven, Acts 17:28-29 and that we possess in our spiritual organizations the same capabilities, powers and faculties that our Father possesses, although in an infantile state, requiring to pass through a certain course or ordeal by which they will be developed and improved according to the heed we give to the principles we have received. We believe that God is no respecter of persons, Acts 10:34 but that he confers blessings upon all his children in proportion to the light they have, or in proportion as they proceed according to the light and knowledge they possess in the different circumstances of life that may surround them. We believe that the spirit which enlightens the human family [p. 301a]proceeds from the presence of the Almighty, that it spreads throughout all space, that it is the light and life of all things, John 1:4 Mosiah 16:9 D&C 88:13 and that every honest heart possesses it in proportion to his virtue, integrity, and his desire to know the truth and do good to his fellow men.
Author/Source: Progression—The Fatherhood of God—The Perfect Man—The Gifts of the Spirit—His Testimony. Discourse by Elder Lorenzo Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, January 14, 1872. Reported By: David W. Evans.