The 2nd Paragraph

The second paragraph of The Family: A Proclamation to the Word states:

"All human beings--male and female-- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

There is a reason why God created both male and female.  In his talk, For Time and All Eternity, Elder Boyd K. Packer taught:

"The plan of happiness requires the righteous union of male and female, man and woman, husband and wife. Doctrines teach us how to respond to the compelling natural impulses which too often dominate how we behave.

"A body patterned after the image of God was created for Adam, and he was introduced in the Garden. At first, Adam was alone. He held the priesthood, but alone, he could not fulfill the purposes of his creation.

"No other man would do. Neither alone nor with other men could Adam progress. Nor could Eve with another woman. It was so then. It is so today.

"Eve, an help meet, was created. Marriage was instituted, for Adam was commanded to cleave unto his wife [not just to a woman] and 'to none else.'"

Another man could not do for Adam.  He needed Eve.  He needed a woman.  This brings us to the topic of marriage--eternal marriage to be exact.  Elder David A. Bednar in his talk, Marriage is Essential to His Eternal Plan, gives us two compelling doctrinal reasons to help us understand why eternal marriage is essential to the Father's plan.

"Reason 1: The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation."

 Elder Bednar goes on to explain:

 "By divine design, men and women are intended to progress together toward perfection and fullness of glory. Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences.  The man and the woman contribute differently but equally to a oneness and a unity that can be achieved in no other way.  The man completes the woman and the woman completes and perfects the man as they learn from and mutually strengthen and bless each other."

Reason number two is pretty much a given, but in Elder Bednar's words he states:

"Reason 2: By divine design, both a man and a woman are needed to bring children into mortality and to provide the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children."

Our gender is essential to God's plan and our eternal destiny as His spirit sons or daughters.  We were not just born the way we are.  There is no mistake in our gender.  There is no need to have an expensive operation to change your gender.  God gave us the gender that we have for a purpose, and it's up to us to learn what that purpose is and to work towards achieving it.

As always feel free to share with others.