I believe in individuality. I believe we all have different qualities that give variety and purpose to our lives and to the church and should not separate us from each other.
I think that in the church there is a tendency towards sameness. Somehow, because we hold to a high moral standard, with the same high goals and desire for perfection, we start to think we must all live the same way to get there; that to be Zion, to be "of one heart and one mind" (Moses 7:18), we must be a completely homogenous people.
President James E. Faust said: "All are equal before the Lord. Yet within our spiritual unity there is wide room for everyone’s individuality and expression. In that setting, all are heirs to the kingdom of God. President Hunter said it well, 'The key to a unified church is a unified soul, one that is at peace with itself and not given to inner conflicts and tensions.'"
It is individuality that unifies us.
Our individuality, the qualities of our soul, our character which we must so carefully cultivate and develop, it is all a precious gift from God -- And Elder Neal A Maxwell quoted President Brigham Young as having declared that "the preservation of human intelligence and individuality through the Atonement and resurrection 'is the greatest gift that ever was bestowed on mankind.'”
It is this great blessing of the little "I am" at my soul's center that is the strengths I have to hone and bless others with, the weaknesses to humble me and tie me to Christ, and the glorious opportunity to develop as a child of God -- "the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (D&C 38:1) .
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