Women are not lesser than men

Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

This scripture stood out to me in this weeks reading, equality is sometimes a touchy subject but I wanted to look at it anyway.I grew up surrounded by strong confident LDS women, a decade ago when I moved to Utah, I was shocked by how many women deferred to their spouse's opinion when it related to a gospel topic. This cultural phenomenon is simply not scripturally based. Mary Magdalene was the first person Jesus appeared to, she was tasked with telling his disciples. The Savior obviously held women in high esteem. Men and Women's roles are different but equal. I appreciate the priesthood in my life, and my husband appreciates motherhood, the gift I have to bear and raise children to the Lord. Together these are important components of a healthy relationship.  In today's society, we see a pendulum effect of women trying to assert their ‘sameness’ so they gain equality to men. As a feminist I have no issue with the fight to be treated better, sometimes however the how is questionable.

Men and Women are different. We have different roles to fill, our divine destiny and calling are different. If you need more confirmation about how the church talks about our roles read The Family: A Proclamation to the World and then you should read this article on equal partnership in marriage. 

Really I shouldn't have to convince you, you should know this. Our worth is divine, and infinite,  as is the other genders. we are not more or less than each other. we are simply different.

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me

Matthew 25:40

I have to admit, this weekend is a busy one,  General Conference is this weekend, so that takes up a lot of my day, finals are next week and that takes up even more of my day, so how easy would it be to not help my neighbor who is moving. well..... it was pretty easy actually, I missed the alarm and.... 

Everything you just read is an excuse. Plain and simple.  when we look at the scripture, it is clear, not helping the neighbor move when  I clearly could have is my version of telling the Savior 'there's no room here for you'.

 That might seem a bit drastic but really is it?

Charity is the pure love of Christ, helping others who are less fortunate than us, helping those that simply need our help is our way of showing the Savior we want to do his bidding, we want to make space in our lives, our homes, our hearts for him. Persistently making choices that deny that love of others, shows that we have no room.

A few days ago a classmate complained about homeless people being dirty, stinky and "why don't they just get a job". it is this statement that caused me to reflect on the scripture in Matthew 25:40 "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". As the week has progressed, I again considered these two things. Our judgment about people is also a judgment about the Savior. Michale Mclean in his song wrote: go here

"Homeless, Homeless

Like the Christ child was

Homeless, Homeless

But there is hope because

He came down to earth to lead us

He vowed He'd never leave us

Homeless, Homeless

For in His love there is a home"

go here to listen to a good version.(it's totally a Christmas carol but it's good)

Elder Holland(One of my very favorite conference speakers) in answer to, what can we do? said this in 2014

"For one thing, we can, as King Benjamin taught, cease withholding our means because we see the poor as having brought their misery upon themselves. Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”11 Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? "

(full talk here)

I am not better than the Savior, I am not better than a homeless person, our divine worth means the person living on the street is worth the same as I am, and if the Savior of the world was once homeless, who am I to withhold what I can give from another.

doing for others what I can, is just another way I can begin to thank The Savior for what he has done for me.