Help students understand deeply and personally their identity as children of God, worldwide Church leader says
At a time when contention infects the media, classroom, politics and workplaces, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson reiterated the call from God and his prophets to “love your neighbor (including your adversaries), avoid contention and make peace” during the Religious Educators Conference on Thursday evening, in Provo, Utah.
“Love changes the heart. Avoiding contention changes the tone. Peacemaking changes relationships and our communities,” President Johnson said. “And in that progressive pattern we become more like, and draw closer to, Jesus Christ.”
“Love changes the heart. Avoiding contention changes the tone. Peacemaking changes relationships and our communities. And in that progressive pattern we become more like, and draw closer to, Jesus Christ.” —President Camille N. Johnson
The leader of the global Relief Society organization addressed thousands of Church Educational System (CES) and Seminary and Institute religious educators of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Concert Hall of the new Music Building on the campus of Brigham Young University on June 4, 2026, and via Zoom.
Her entire talk is available now on Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and will be published soon in Gospel Library in 26 languages.
President Johnson’s message opened the annual two-day conference that brings together religious educators from across the world for instruction, inspiration and connection, including teaching resources and best practices.
Thanking religious educators for being Christlike role models to more than a million students enrolled worldwide, she said that for disciples of Jesus Christ, peacemaking actively happens “right where we are — in our homes, in our seminary classes, online, on campus, in the workplace, and in the community.”
Religious educators’ most impactful teaching is their example, she said. “We can choose how we show up — with respect even when we disagree and with compassion for the burdens others are carrying,” she said. “We can show up with the intention to listen to understand rather than defend our position with hostility and hurtful words.”
Peacemakers practice every day by asking questions to better understand and then listening. “Are you creating a space in your home and classroom, where peacemaking can be practiced?” she asked.
President Johnson invited educators to explore what active peacemaking looks like at home, in class and in the community, and then cultivate qualities of peacemakers in their students.
Most importantly, peacemakers need to know their divine identity as literal spirit children of God. This will affect their decisions, including how to treat others.
“You approach your day differently when you have it imprinted on your heart that you are a child of God and that your fellow travelers in life are too.” —President Camille N. Johnson
“You approach your day differently when you have it imprinted on your heart that you are a child of God and that your fellow travelers in life are too,” she said.
In President Johnson’s profession as a lawyer and litigator, she tried to show interest and find something in common with the opposing counsel to show sincerity, build trust, find common ground and solve the problem at hand.
“Keeping a broad view of who we all are helped me navigate the natural challenges of practicing law where conflict, or the potential for conflict, was the reason for my work.”
She added, “I invite you to prayerfully consider what experiences you can offer your students so that they come to understand deeply and personally their identity as children of God. We sing it. We say it. Do we have it imprinted upon our hearts?”
Reminding listeners of President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel to young adults in May 2022 to “[k]now the truth about who you are,” she suggested attaching the label “child of God” to ourselves and others. “Having that truth imprinted on my heart helps me love my adversary, avoid contention and make peace,” she said.
Another quality of peacemakers is kindness, she said, quoting President Dallin H. Oaks, who said, “Bullying, ganging up on someone, or joining together to reject others … is not pleasing to the Lord” (“Parents and Children,” October 2018 general conference).
Because many students feel lonely and isolated, they need kindness to feel authentic belonging, President Johnson said.
“How will we plant the seed of desire in our young people to not only do kind acts but become kind? As a religious educator, you can teach by example and inspire your students to be kind.”
President Johnson concluded by echoing the observation from the crew aboard the spaceship Artemis II and also President Oaks, that “we are all neighbors, we are children of God,” and we should follow the Savior’s teachings to love God and love our neighbor.
She testified, “Our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness is for us to return home. I know that is possible because of Jesus Christ. I love Him. I know that He lives.”
