Feature Story
Beloved From the Beginning: Overcoming Shame and Reclaiming Divine Worth with Kurt Francom
On Oct. 2, the Southern Virginia University community gathered in the Knight Arena to hear from Kurt Francom, the host and executive director of Leading Saints, a non-profit organization and podcast dedicated to helping Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. There, Francom spoke about grace, divine identity, and one of mortality’s most universal questions: “Is God disappointed in me?”
“That’s the most human question we can experience, and it’s the adversary’s strongest tool in mortality against us,” said Francom. “Shame is any relational experience that corrodes divine identity. And really, shame is why we hurt. Shame is why we sin, why we show up in life as we do, why we succeed, and why we fail.”
To show how everyone has those feelings, Francom asked those in attendance to turn their phone flashlights on and off to answer a series of personal questions about rejection, struggles with faith, having loved ones step away from religion, or feeling that God was disappointed in them.
“Every one of these lights has a story,” Francom said. “It would probably break our heart, but it will also orient us to Jesus. This is a real mortality experience.”
Francom shared how seemingly small moments in life can shape the way people see themselves, recalling when his sixth-grade teacher handed out acceptance letters for the junior high Gifted and Talented program, and his name was not called.
“Think how simple that moment was,” said Francom. “The adversary stepped into my story and said, ‘Oh, Kurt, that’s because you’re not smart.’ And I embraced that. I carried that around all through junior high, all through high school, all through college, and looked for every opportunity to confirm that identity statement that I’m not smart.”
He then reminded the audience that human worth isn’t something they have to earn. Referencing teachings from President Russell M. Nelson, Francom emphasized that nothing should ever replace one’s identity as a Child of God, Child of the Covenant, and disciple of Jesus Christ.
“I was beloved. I didn’t have to earn my worth, my divine nature—it was just inherent to who I was,” Francom shared. “You were beloved from the beginning. You are beloved today. That is the divine identity. The curious paradox is that Jesus Christ accepts me just as I am, then I can change. As C.S. Lewis put it, ‘The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.’”
The forum opened with the audience singing “We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet,” followed by a performance of “Vocalise” by Dr. Jakob Hofer on the violin and Dr. Hyrum Arnesen on the piano. The campus community also joined together in singing the traditional closing hymn “Love One Another.”
