Just like God has organized the church and priesthood offices, He has given ways for organizing families. This week’s Come Follow Me lesson teaches roles and responsibilities of priesthood offices. In Paragraph 7 of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, we receive roles and responsibilities that teach the ideal for “happiness in family life.”
It says “by divine design,” fathers are to focus on presiding in love, providing necessities, protecting their families. And although moms and dads are “obligated to help one another as equal partners” it is mother who is “primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.” We can think of these roles similar to offices of the priesthood. Not that motherhood (or fatherhood, even) is a parallel to the priesthood. The parallel with this week’s lesson is the importance of roles. The blessings and responsibilities of each office/each role that come from God. One is not less important than the other, they all have specific duties and specialties of service, and blessings that come with the assignments to help us perform them. Some mothers may not feel very nurturing. Some fathers may struggle to provide. But continually practicing those roles, with the ideal as a guide, we can learn and grown into them.
Sometimes we’re extended a calling that is overwhelming, or isn’t really a “fit” (i.e., teaching Gospel Doctrine in your ward, leading hymns when you aren’t very musical, or teaching youth when you don’t feel very cool). In performing in those callings, learning each week how to do one aspect of it better, bringing your unique perspective to the task, we get better at it over time.
Husband, father, son, provider. Daughter, mother, wife, nurturer. Whether a priesthood office, or our place in a family, the roles and responsibilities Heavenly Father extends us, often aren’t because we are already good at them … it’s an invitation to get better.