The BYU-Idaho devotional speaker on June 8, 2021, was Brother Scott Cameron. He is an assistant department chair of the English Department at BYU-Idaho. Cameron spoke about the importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
“How do we forge a personal relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father?” asked Cameron.
He shared three principles to help people develop those relationships. Cameron spoke about how strong relationships are forged in the sharing of individuality, founding a relationship on communication and grounding a relationship in sacrifice.
“As you scour over your lives, perhaps there are a few small things you can give up, or perhaps more importantly, there are some small daily but necessary individual experiences that you can sacrifice by making them sacred,” Cameron said. “What if you made your chemistry homework a sacrifice, not by giving it up, but by making it a sacred act—where you gave of your individual experience to bind yourself to Christ and Heavenly Father?”
In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio before the devotional, Cameron shared how he came up with the title of his talk.
“The start of the title of my devotional comes from a scripture at the end of 2 Nephi, in chapter 33. One time while I was reading it, I was intrigued by the fact that Nephi writes ‘I glory in my Jesus’, not just ‘I glory in Jesus’, but ‘my Jesus’,” Cameron said.
In the interview, he shared how a personal relationship with deity reminds him of relationships with those around him.
“I guess for me, a personal relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father, in some respects looks similar to relationships we have just with family and friends. It is built upon really individual experiences that we have,” Cameron said.