“Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,” Liahona, Sept. 2023.
Brothers and Sisters in the Lord
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”—and He gave us each other.
Christ raises a widow’s son in the city of Nain.
Traveling from Capernaum, our Savior went to a city called Nain. Near the city gate, He saw a funeral procession. The untimely death of an only child had left a destitute widow on her own.
“And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
“And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”
As the young man sat up and began to speak, Jesus “delivered him to his mother” (see Luke 7:11–15; emphasis added).
Throughout His ministry, whether to the 1 or to the 99,1 our Savior perfectly exemplified compassion, faith, hope, charity, love, forgiveness, mercy, and service.2 He invites each of us to “come, follow me” (Luke 18:22) and to become “even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).3
“Even as I Am”
To follow our Savior’s perfect example and become as He is, we accept His invitation to walk with Him on His covenant path (see Moses 6:34). We sometimes identify the covenant path through the ordinances of salvation and exaltation by which it is marked—baptism and confirmation to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for brethren); endowment in the house of the Lord (for each of us as individuals); and temple sealing.
An ordinance that is necessary for salvation and exaltation is a sacred act performed by authorized priesthood authority that teaches us the covenant with which the ordinance is associated. In some ways, we can think of an ordinance of salvation and exaltation as an outward act that brings a binding relationship with God and His holy Son into our life by covenant.
Each of us, as a beloved son or daughter of God, makes our own sacred covenants with God. We do so as an individual, in our own name, one by one. This covenantal connection with God gives each of us power, hope, and promise. These covenants can change our very natures, sanctify our desires and actions, and help us put off the natural man or natural woman as we yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. By covenant, through the Atonement of Christ the Lord, each of us can become as a child of God—“submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” (Mosiah 3:19).
Serving Together by Covenant
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16)—and He gave us each other. Covenant belonging—to be connected with God and with each other by covenant—invites us to fulfill our divine identity and purpose by communing with heaven and by connecting and creating a community of Saints as we love and serve each other and those around us. In providing opportunity for covenant commitment and covenant belonging, God is no respecter of persons. He invites each of us, women and men, married or unmarried, whatever our background and circumstance, to come unto Him and each other by covenant.
When we belong by covenant to the Lord, we also belong by covenant to each other. Remarkable things happen when we love the Lord and cooperate, counsel together, and serve each other. Covenant service strengthens our ties with the Lord and with each other. This includes our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, family, Church congregation, community, and family generations. As we live our covenants, we lose our self-centered selves and find our best Christ-centered selves.
God’s Divine Plan of Happiness
In God’s divine plan of happiness, said President Russell M. Nelson, “the heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood.”4
Noted President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, “We have the right to access priesthood power by virtue of personal worthiness.”5 Quoting President Nelson, she said, “We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers.”6 Covenant keepers who seek and live with faith, humility, and diligence, President Johnson taught, can receive guidance, inspiration, gifts of the Spirit, revelation, and “help and strength to become more like Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.”7 As we each offer our unique gifts in partnership with the Lord and each other, we create “one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
In God’s plan, mothers and fathers are companions and helpmeets. We help each other as equal partners in love and righteousness to nurture and provide for each other and our families. Purity of thought and behavior are a prerequisite to the revelation and inspiration women and men need. In their homes, fathers and husbands are to preside with gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned—righteous qualities men and women need in all our relationships.8
Heaven weeps when, in any relationship, there is abuse, dominion, or compulsion of any kind by men or women. Persuasion, long-suffering, kindness, and pure knowledge are Christlike qualities we each seek—whether we are married, single, widowed, or divorced (see Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–42). This is because our standing before the Lord and in His Church is determined by our personal character and righteousness in covenant keeping.
Counseling in Council
In this same spirit, in the Lord’s Church we counsel in council as we serve together. In our councils, leaders seek insights and ideas from all. I am grateful for each of the extraordinary women and men with whom I am privileged to serve, side by side, in the Church’s executive councils. These noble sisters and brothers help gather Israel through missionary service, prepare us to meet God through priesthood and family service, unite families for eternity through temple and family history service, and minister to those in need through welfare and self-reliance service.
In each case, we reach better decisions and have greater success in the Lord’s service as we value each other’s contributions and work together, brothers and sisters in His work.
Similarly, I am grateful that, in our stakes and wards, brother and sister leaders and members are united in the work of salvation and exaltation. Across the Church, under the direction of dedicated mission leaders, mission leadership councils include elder and sister training leaders who lead our missionaries, each of whose work and responsibilities are valued and significant. In the United States military, Latter-day Saint chaplains, men and women officers endorsed by the Church, bless those serving across the various service branches.9 In ministering, our young men and young women have opportunity and need to serve. In our service, we all stand together.
One way we stand as witnesses of God is to serve as witnesses of restored gospel ordinances. Sisters and brothers stand as witnesses for baptisms, both for the living and the dead. Brothers and sisters stand as witnesses for additional ordinances in the house of the Lord. There, under the keys of the temple president, sisters perform sacred ordinances for sisters and brothers perform sacred ordinances for brothers.
In God’s divine plan of happiness, said President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, “priesthood power blesses all of us. Priesthood keys direct women as well as men, and priesthood ordinances and priesthood authority pertain to women as well as men. … Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.”10
Rise above the World
As we strive to “be one,” even as Jesus Christ is one with the Father (John 17:21), we must “put … on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).
We can be sanctified as, grace by grace, we learn and make our own the attributes of Jesus Christ—to love more fully, forgive more easily, judge less readily, serve and sacrifice more willingly, exemplify compassion more deeply and more often.
Let us trust the doctrine and example of Christ, delighting in truth and becoming His humble followers (see 2 Nephi 28:14)—each of us as individuals and as brothers and sisters in the Lord.11