Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood

The VT message for April is the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood.

It states, “The more we as sisters understand that the oath and covenant of the priesthood applies to us personally, the more we will embrace the blessings and promises of the priesthood.” It also said, “The blessings and promises of the oath and covenant of the priesthood pertain to both men and women.”

This is a topic I need to learn a lot more about, so I did a little pondering and research about how the oath and covenant of the priesthood applies to other women and to me. I looked up some things on lds.org, including this explanation:

“We receive the holy priesthood by an “oath and covenant.” This means that Heavenly Father gives us His oath that we can have the power and blessing of the priesthood if we covenant with Him to magnify our callings, be faithful in keeping the commandments, and live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ap/ordinances-covenants/covenant?lang=eng)

While this can certainly apply to young men as they are ordained to the offices of the priesthood, I think everything in there can apply to women, too—as we magnify callings, keep the commandments, and follow God, we invite the power of the priesthood into our lives.

Growing up with divorced parents and my father having left the Church, I HATED the Primary song, “Love Is Spoken Here” as it talked about a home being blessed with priesthood power—because I thought my home WASN’T because we didn’t have a Priesthood holder in our home. It’s only in the psat few years that I’ve come to relize that my home was blessed by priesthood power because my mother honored the covenants she had made and lived a faithful life and invited that power into our home.

Men may be the ones authorized to use the priesthood, but as Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “Incredible blessings flow from this oath and covenant to worthy men, women, and children in all the world.” (https://www.lds.org/youth/article/ready-to-receive-the-melchizedek-priesthood?lang=eng)

President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “The blessings of the priesthood are not confined to men alone. These blessings are also poured out upon our wives and daughters and upon all the faithful women of the Church. These good sisters can prepare themselves, by keeping the commandments and by serving in the Church, for the blessings of the house of the Lord. The Lord offers to his daughters every spiritual gift and blessing that can be obtained by his sons.” (https://www.lds.org/youth/article/ready-to-receive-the-melchizedek-priesthood?lang=eng)

Sister Linda K. Burton invited us to memorize the oath and covenant of the priesthood, found in D&C 84:33-44. I invite you to read these verses and consider them thoughtfully.