Last Sunday we as a Relief Society Presidency taught the lesson on supporting the priesthood. We broke the lesson up into three sections:
- What is the priesthood?
- Why is the priesthood important?
- How can we as women support the priesthood holders in our lives?
My first counselor focused on the first section and drew a fabulous history of the priesthood on a chalkboard. Then she had her friend Marcus come speak to the sisters about what it's like to obtain and remain worthy of the priesthood. My second counselor focused on the second section, and she led a discussion about responsibilities of the priesthood that we may take for granted. I focused on the last section, and I mainly wanted to discuss with the sisters ways we as a relief society can support the priesthood holders in our ward. I put together this outline and distributed it as a handout to all the sisters in attendance so they could follow along in our discussion:
Supporting
the Priesthood
·
Question #1: What does it mean to support the priesthood?
Quote #1: To “support” the priesthood means
to promote the interests or cause
of; … to uphold or defend as valid or right.
·
Question #2: Why do we as women need to support the priesthood?
Quote #2: Men have no greater claim than women upon the blessings that
issue from the Priesthood . . . Just
as everyone in the Church benefits from the priesthood, so everyone is
responsible for honoring and sustaining the priesthood.
Quote #3: While the father is the leader in the home, his
wife is his most important companion, partner, and counselor. A husband and
wife must work together to strengthen their family and teach their children the
principles of the gospel. By fulfilling her role as counselor to her husband, a
woman can reinforce her husband’s position as head of the home and encourage
greater family unity.
·
Question #3: How are
you currently supporting the priesthood holders in your life? This could be
your Bishop, your dad, your brother, your significant other, your friends,
etc.
·
Question #4: How can
we as a relief society support the priesthood holders in our own ward?
Quote
#4: We honor the priesthood when we treat our husbands with the same gentleness,
kindness, and love they should maintain as bearers of the priesthood. The
Prophet Joseph Smith counseled the Relief Society to “teach women
how to behave towards their husbands, to treat them with mildness and
affection. When a man is borne down with trouble, if he can meet a smile
instead of an argument or a murmur—it will calm down his soul and soothe his
feelings; when the mind is going to despair, it needs a solace of affection and
kindness.”
Quote #5: When a wife has a positive attitude
about her husband’s duties in the Church, it makes it easier for him to carry
out those duties. Her attitude also communicates to their children that having
the priesthood in the home is a great blessing.
Quote
#6: As women in the Church, we can have great
influence on the priesthood holders in our home. We can support and encourage
our husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons in fulfilling their priesthood
responsibilities. If we request a blessing and then honor that blessing, we
communicate our support of the priesthood. We can also strengthen the
priesthood bearers in our lives by including them in our prayers.
Quote #7: We must work continually to perfect
our own characters and fulfill our responsibilities. We may also need to
encourage and gently remind priesthood holders to honor and magnify their
priesthood callings. Young women as well as mothers can do much to encourage
young men to attend their meetings and prepare to serve missions. Elder
David B. Haight said: “You young ladies have a profound influence on
young, masculine behavior. Your influence with young men is important. You
encourage Church standards and dress and conduct.”
Quote #8: We support our leaders when we
accept Church callings willingly and fulfill them faithfully, realizing that a
call from the priesthood is a call from the Lord. We can honor the counsel of
priesthood leaders—our husbands, home teachers, bishops or branch presidents,
stake or district leaders, and General Authorities.
Quote #9: We should refrain from criticizing
priesthood leaders and teach our children to do the same. Sustaining and
supporting the priesthood is more than just raising our hands or saying that we
support the priesthood. It is learning, praying, obeying, and serving in a good
cause.
Ways I will support the priesthood in my life:
I feel like having the handout with all the discussion topics and quotes was helpful in involving all the sisters in the discussion. It also gave them an outlet to write down thoughts and a way to refer back to our discussion later in life.
After my portion of the lesson, we all participated in a service project for the Elder's Quorum. I passed around a box of Big Hunk candy bars and note cards. Each sister wrote a "love note" on a card explaining why she is grateful for the priesthood in her life and thanking the men for all their hard work. Then we attached the cards to the candy bars and I distributed them to the Elder's Quorum after class. The mixed expressions of surprise and joy as we handed them our gifts was priceless, and I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to serve the men in our lives who do so much for us!
