Women and the Priesthood

I know... it's a strange title for a blog post. But, I wanted to share with you something I wrote for my religion class at BYU. I didn't realize it was something I was so passionate about until now, but I believe that women are so special, and by disputing that "they should be ordained to the preisthood", I believe it diminishes how awesome we already are. I do not mean to offend or cause contention. It is simply how I feel. 

            I am a woman of God. I stand with my Savior Jesus Christ in these last days and I am prepared to fight for what I believe in. I am strong, I am powerful, and I am a servant of the Lord. I know that God loves me and has given me the chance to prove myself worthy to be a soldier in these last days and fight the adversary. However, I believe that God entrusted me with a sacred responsibility: to raise the next generation of soldiers to fight for our God.

            While I am not a mother yet, I believe that it is my destiny to become one. And I take that responsibility very seriously. I plan to teach my children to pray to their Heavenly Father in times of need, as well as in times of calm. I plan to read the scriptures with my children and help them learn from those stories that have made me who I am. I plan to drive my kids to activity days, scouts, young men and young women’s activities, girls camp, seminary, and anything else that will help them become more like Jesus Christ. I plan to teach them righteous principles and about correct ordinances. I plant to teach them about the temple and the power that comes from being worthy to go inside. I plan to do all that I can to make sure that my kids know where I stand in the fight against the adversary. And I’m going to do it all while using Priesthood Power.

            Yes, I plan to use priesthood power to raise my family in righteousness. And I don’t have to be “ordained” to do it. You see, there are 4 different “parts” (for lack of a better word) to the priesthood. They are priesthood keys, priesthood offices, priesthood authority, and priesthood power. Groups such as Ordain Women would have you believe that we, as righteous women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are powerless and oppressed because we are not “ordained” to the priesthood. That simply is not true. While women of the church do not hold priesthood keys or priesthood offices, if we are righteous and worthy, we have a right to priesthood authority and priesthood power.

            Do you know what the priesthood is? The priesthood, as defined on LDS.org, is “the eternal power and authority of our Heavenly Father.”¹  If you continue in the same paragraph that I got that definition out of it says, “All of Heavenly Father’s children can… access the power and blessings of the priesthood.” ¹  You don’t have to be a male ordained to the priesthood to access it. I often think about when I was a missionary for the church and how that is an example of how I had priesthood authority. I had the authority to preach the gospel to the people of Long Beach, California. I was set apart and given that jurisdiction. Could I lay my hands on someone’s head and give them a blessing? No, but you better believe I offered some pretty powerful prayers. Do you think that just because I did not “have the priesthood” that God would not answer those powerful prayers that I uttered? I do not believe so. In fact, I believe that many of those prayers resulted in miracles, which by definition², happen only through the priesthood.

            There are some who worry so much about this topic because they believe we are not equal to men. With those who believe this, I would agree. We are not equal to men. We are different, and that is what makes us so special. God did not design us to do everything a man could do. He made us to do everything that a man could not do. God entrusted us with the most divine work yet, to bear his sons and daughters. I often think how Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have felt knowing that she was chosen to be the mother of the Savior of the world. I wonder how highly God must have esteemed her to trust her with such a task of raising His son. Mary was not ordained to the priesthood. She was a young girl who had little experience in life. Yet, God chose her.

            I believe that God knows our capabilities. I believe that God trusts us with a similar task as Mary, to bear and raise the rest of his children. We do not need to hold the priesthood to do the Lord’s will. We do not need to make ourselves higher, for God already holds us so high. We have a work to do on this earth. And I plan to do it, with God’s help. I may not, by definition, hold the priesthood, but I definitely know how to access the power of God.

Sources:

1.     https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ap/priesthood-keys/what?lang=eng

2.     https://www.lds.org/topics/miracles?lang=eng