Can marriage really last for time and all
eternity?
I know that marriage and families can be
together forever. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints I believe that God has restored the priesthood power to the earth to
those who are worthy to receive it. Through the restoration of the gospel
worthy priesthood holders are able to do what was taught in Matthew 16:19,“And
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This sealing power was restored to the
prophet Joseph Smith, on April 3, 1836 in the Kirkland, Ohio temple and exists
today and is held by others who have received the sealing power. On that day,
“Elijah brought the keys of sealing powers—that power which seals a man
to a woman and seals their posterity to them endlessly, that which seals
their forefathers to them all the way back to Adam. This is the power and
order that Elijah revealed—that same order of priesthood which God gave
to Adam and to all the ancient patriarchs which followed after him” (Benson,
1986). What an incredible blessing that all can have, to be sealed to their families
for time and all eternity.
God wants his children to be sealed as families forever. Families are forever! However, we first have to build loving and
strong marriages and families here on earth.
How can you build a deeply loving marriage that
you want to last forever?
In today’s world we see too many people who enter into contract marriages
instead of covenant marriages. Elder
Bruce C. Haven teaches the difference between covenant and contract marriages. He said, “When troubles come, the parties to a
contractual marriage seek happiness by walking away. They marry to
obtain benefits and will stay only as long as they’re receiving what they
bargained for. But when troubles come to a covenant marriage, the
husband and wife work them through. They marry to give and to grow, bound by
covenants to each other, to the community, and to God. Contract companions
each give 50 percent; covenant companions each give 100 percent.”
What kind of marriage do you want; a contract
marriage or a covenant Marriage?
“Marriage is by nature a covenant, not just a
private contract one may cancel at will. Jesus taught about contractual
attitudes when he described the “hireling,” who performs his conditional
promise of care only when he receives something in return. When the hireling
“seeth the wolf coming,” he “leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ... because he ...
careth not for the sheep.” By contrast, the Savior said, “I am the good
shepherd, ... and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Many people today marry as
hirelings. And when the wolf comes, they flee. This idea is wrong. It curses
the earth, turning parents’ hearts away from their children and from each
other” (Hafen, 1986).
There are three kinds of wolves that threaten
every marriage, natural adversity, our own imperfections, and excessive
individualism (Hafen, 1986).
The first wolf is natural adversity. My
husband and I faced natural adversity early on in our marriage with the loss of
our second child, a stillborn. We were
devastated and heart broken however we clung to each other and to our covenants
that we would be a forever family and see our baby boy again. We were
strengthened through our covenants. We have faced other natural adversities such
as job loss, not getting jobs, serious financial hardships, mental illness, and
more. However, we have chosen to have a
covenant marriage so we cling to each other and our covenants. We work through our struggles together, with
our Savior’s help. We have witnessed
many times, “hidden reservoirs of strength,” from keeping our temple covenants
to each other and to God (Hafen, 1986).
The Second wolf comes from our own
imperfections that will test us. Mark and I have some pretty big
imperfections that we have had to deal with. We have had to practice a lot of
repentance and forgiveness. We have faced some really painful experiences due
to both of us really hurting the other. But,
we have both committed to becoming better, kinder, more loving people and have
relied on the Savior, to help us overcome our weaknesses, especially those
weaknesses that hurt each other. I have
seen the power of the atonement strengthen us, heal our broken hearts, and heal
and strengthen our marriage. Just last
night, my husband and I were talking about the scary direction our country is
headed and he said to me, "at least we have each other." What
is better than that?! Boy am I glad we
have clung to each other and our covenants so we can taste the pure joy of
marriage!
“The third wolf is the excessive individualism
that has spawned today’s contractual attitudes.” the following story
illustrates today’s excessive individualism perfectly. “A seven-year-old girl
came home from school crying, “Mom, don’t I belong to you? Our teacher said
today that nobody belongs to anybody—children don’t belong to parents,
husbands don’t belong to wives. I am yours, aren’t I, Mom?” Her mother
held her close and whispered, “Of course you’re mine—and I’m yours, too.”
Surely marriage partners must respect one another’s individual identity, and
family members are neither slaves nor inanimate objects. But this teacher’s
fear, shared today by many, is that the bonds of kinship and marriage are not
valuable ties that bind, but are, instead, sheer bondage. Ours is the age of
the waning of belonging” (Hafen, 1986). I am eternally grateful to belong to my
husband, him to me, our children to us, and us to them for time and all
eternity. I would not have it any other way.
I am so grateful to have a covenant marriage. Mark and I have worked through some tough
things and will continue to, but it is our challenges that bind us together and
strengthen us. I love my husband and family with all my heart and soul and I
will fight for them for time and all eternity.
Hafen. B. C. (1996, November). Covenant
Marriage. Ensign. Retreived from:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/11/covenant-marriage?lang=eng
Benson, E. T. (1986, April). What I Hope You Would Teach Your Children about the Temple. Ensign. Retrieved from: https://www.lds.org/liahona/1986/04/what-i-hope-you-would-teach-your-children-about-the-temple?lang=eng
Wolf Image retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/313774299017517432/
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