“The Priesthood of God,” For the Strength of Youth, Aug. 2021, 20–21.
Come, Follow Me
The Priesthood of God
What every youth should know about the priesthood and their connection to it.
Have you ever noticed how confusing it can be when one word is used in two ways? For example, in English the word earth refers both to the planet we live on and the dirt beneath our feet. Both are correct, but what you mean when you use the term depends on what you are talking about in the moment. To make it more confusing, when earth means our planet, it also includes the idea of dirt, because dirt is on the planet.
Defining the Term Priesthood
One term we use in the Church in two ways is priesthood. The term refers to the total power and authority of God. However, we also use priesthood in a more limited way—to refer to “the power and authority that God gives to ordained priesthood holders to act in all things necessary for the salvation of God’s children.”1
The priesthood conferred upon man is not all of God’s power. The following chart illustrates this point.
In this chart you see some examples of God’s power, which is infinite and has no bounds. Inside of that, you also see examples of the power and authority of God’s priesthood that He confers on, or gives to, worthy men to officiate in Christ’s Church.
Examples of Priesthood Authority in Your Life
All the blessings of the priesthood are available to all of Heavenly Father’s beloved daughters and sons. The second list simply represents those blessings that come to you through one who holds priesthood keys or has had priesthood authority conferred upon him.
This is the order God has established for the organization and administration of His Church on the earth. Other examples of God’s priesthood authority include a deacons or teachers quorum president who has keys to direct the work of his quorum, a father’s blessings given in a home, and temple ordinances and covenants.
Men, Women, and the Priesthood
Although ordination to priesthood office is given only to men, President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, has explained an important principle: “The priesthood is a divine power and authority held in trust to be used for God’s work for the benefit of all of His children. Priesthood is not those who have been ordained to a priesthood office or those who exercise its authority. Men who hold the priesthood are not the priesthood. … We should not refer to ordained men as the priesthood.”2
Although women are not ordained to the priesthood, President Russell M. Nelson explained, “when you are set apart to serve in a calling under the direction of one who holds priesthood keys … you are given priesthood authority to function in that calling.”3 Some examples of this include Young Women class presidencies, sister missionaries preaching the gospel, leaders in wards and stakes who have been set apart to teach and lead, and ordinance workers in the temple.
Priesthood Power Blesses Everyone
The blessings you young men and young women receive are yours through the covenants you make at baptism and the covenants you will make in the temple. Even if you do not have a priesthood bearer in your home, you can still be blessed with God’s priesthood power in your life as you keep the covenants you have made with Him (see 1 Nephi 14:14).
As we live according to our covenants, we receive blessings that strengthen and bless us. We invite you to ponder the blessings of the priesthood in your life—the blessings that come because of God’s endless priesthood power and those that come specifically through the priesthood authority that is conferred and delegated in God’s Church.