The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
I was recently asked a question by a very sincere member of the Church. The question was this: “Sister Jones, do you feel diminished because you don’t hold the priesthood?”
My response was to first ask her a question. “Can you name any blessing that I lack because I don’t hold the priesthood?” She responded by saying, “You can’t preside in a meeting.”
I shared my assurance that I actually have the opportunity to preside in many meetings. I have been given priesthood authority by one who holds priesthood keys. Any Primary, Young Women, or Relief Society presidency member can preside in their respective callings.
“So again,” I asked, “please help me understand what blessings I am missing out on by not holding the priesthood.”
She said, “Well, you can’t give a blessing.”
I explained, “As a priesthood duty, no, I can’t administer a blessing. But the person who administers a blessing matters little compared to whom the blessing really comes from — our Heavenly Father. And through my covenants I can strive to be a blessing in the lives of others.”
Through that revelatory knowledge and power available to me, I can be guided to know who is in need of my help and love. That is certainly a tender blessing of God’s priesthood power in my life.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Ronald BarnesMay 29, 2020
Women do use priesthood power in their callings. Ordinances of salvation are performed by women in the temple. A priesthood holder cannot use the priesthood for his own benefit; only for the benefit of others. It does not make him any better than anyone else.
KARELL BINGHAMMay 27, 2020
When I think of the power of the Priesthood and women, I like to think of the definition of Priesthood. Some people will say that it is, "The power of God on earth." I have read many times that it is 'The power of God on earth for the salvation of mankind." When you read this definition, it is much easier to see how women are involved and use the priesthood power. Not to perform the formal ordinances of salvation, but to use their influence in their homes and at church as loving teachers of the principles of salvation. Men perform the living ordinance of baptism, women perform the living ordinance of birth.