Marriage

What does it mean to cherish one’s spouse? To love, hold dear, adore, serve, protect, and want the best for, which all require action on our part. I loved the comparison Brother Goddard made; each person is unique in both personality and experiences which is like bringing half of a house to a marriage. Our goal is to meld them together into something that will work and become a beautiful, safe, and comfortable home which is not always a smooth and easy undertaking.  Like the very first time my husband and I assembled a piece of furniture together—I think it was a computer desk. My husband dumped everything out and started assembling while I started reading the directions and correcting him on the procedure. I am sure you can guess how that venture went…not very pleasant. The more furniture we have assembled together, the better we have gotten; my husband reads the directions and I hand him whatever he needs. We have both learned how to work more successfully in different...

I love this truth taught by Brother Goddard, “I believe that the key to a healthy relationship is being a healthy, saintly, God-seeking person—to be born again—to be a new creature in Christ. How does the Savior help our relationship? He was the perfect example of loving people and seeing their potential. He was kind, patient, compassionate, made time for the individual, and showed temperance and self-control. These attributes are helpful in a marriage or any relationship. Also, living the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us access to divine help through his word in the scriptures, prayer and direction through the Holy Ghost. Marriage if divinely ordained of God, therefore he actively blesses those who are trying to keep their covenant. When I have had relationship issues with my spouse, children, mother, or others, and sought divine help, the inspiration given through the spirit was to change myself—how I was acting. As I have obeyed these promptings, the Lord has helped me ch...

I think one of the most danger “wolves” to a covenant marriage and to our society, that Elder Bruce C. Hafen talks about, is that of individualism. The core of individualism is self—self-reliance, self-interest, self-importance, selfishness. Self-centeredness, like pride, is a corrosive attitude that can destroy relationships. The foundation of a covenant marriage is unity or oneness- oneness with the Savior and oneness with our spouse. This requires one to look outward, work for a spouse’s happiness, compromise, and maybe make changes in one’s own self that will make a relationship better. That doesn’t mean we have to change our personalities, be someone we are not, or give up everything we want from life. We are all unique and have individual, God given, talents and gifts which should lend strength to our relationships. Individualism is at odds with Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation.  Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a f...

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled by a bare majority, that all states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other states. This decision was not only a blow to those who acknowledge marriage to be between a man and women, but a blatant disregard for both democracy and liberty as recognized by the four dissenting Justices: Justice Roberts -  “The Majorities decision is an act of will, not legal judgement. The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or this Court’s precedent…As a result, the Court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the States and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushman and the Han Chinese, the  Carthaginians and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are? Justice Scalia - Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, ...

In the world today, we can see the decay of marriages and families that is encouraged by divorce, unmarried births, cohabiting, delaying of marriage, or not marrying at all. One only needs to visit their local school for a day to see the emotional and social impact these practices are having on children in the form of academic apathy, behavior problems, anxiety, bullying, diminished self-worth, lack of respect and self-control, and delinquency. I found this statistic a little shocking and revealing about our society: “70% of Americans disagree with this statement: ‘the main purpose of marriage is having children.” Latter-Day Saints understand that marriage is ordained of God and that He commanded Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth and raise their children in righteousness. Isn’t this the purpose of marriage and family? I don’t know if it is possible to reverse the trends of the world without the world understanding the importance and purpose of family. But we can b...