ETERNAL MARRIAGE

 

ETERNAL MARRIAGE

 

1. Two of the vital pillars that sustain Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness are marriage and the family. Their lofty significance is underscored by Satan’s relentless efforts to splinter the family and to undermine the significance of temple ordinances, which bind the family together for eternity. The temple sealing has greater meaning as life unfolds. It will help you draw ever closer together and find greater joy and fulfillment in mortality.

 

-Richard G. Scott (The Eternal Blessings of Marriage) April 2011

 

2. Brethren, do you lead out in family activities such as scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening, or does your wife fill in the gap your lack of attention leaves in the home? Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, “Oh, she knows.” You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer and more pleasant and purposeful. Don’t withhold those natural expressions of love. And it works a lot better if you are holding her close while you tell her. I learned from my wife the importance of expressions of love. Early in our marriage, often I would open my scriptures to give a message in a meeting, and I would find an affectionate, supportive note Jeanene had slipped into the pages. Sometimes they were so tender that I could hardly talk. Those precious notes from a loving wife were and continue to be a priceless treasure of comfort and inspiration.

 

-Richard G. Scott (The Eternal Blessings of Marriage) April 2011

 

3. My purpose in speaking out on this topic is to declare, as an Apostle of the Lord,³ that marriage between a man and a woman is sacred—it is ordained of God.⁴ I also assert the virtue of a temple marriage. It is the highest and most enduring type of marriage that our Creator can offer to His children…Harmony in marriage comes only when one esteems the welfare of his or her spouse among the highest of priorities. When that really happens, a celestial marriage becomes a reality, bringing great joy in this life and in the life to come… Celestial marriage is a pivotal part of preparation for eternal life. It requires one to be married to the right person, in the right place, by the right authority, and to obey that sacred covenant faithfully.⁴³ Then one may be assured of exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God.

 

-Russell M. Nelson (Celestial Marriage) October 2008

 

4.. If our bodies are sick, we seek to heal them. We do not give up. The same thing should be true of our marriages. A marriage, eternal in duration and Godlike in quality, does not contemplate divorce.

 

- Elder Dallin H. Oaks “Marriage and Divorce”

 

5. It is inconceivable that otherwise intelligent, astute, and highly educated people should ignore or willfully disregard this great privilege. The doors can be unlocked. The gap can be bridged. And men can walk safely, securely, to never-ending happiness, making their marriages timeless and eternal.

 

-Spencer W. Kimball (Temples and Eternal Marriage) February 1995

 

6. “I am satisfied that a happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion.

Selfishness so often is the basis of money problems, which are a very serious and real factor affecting the stability of family life. Selfishness is at the root of adultery, the breaking of solemn and sacred covenants to satisfy selfish lust. Selfishness is the antithesis of love. It is a cankering expression of greed. It destroys self-discipline. It obliterates loyalty. It tears up sacred covenants. It afflicts both men and women.

Too many who come to marriage have been coddled and spoiled and somehow led to feel that everything must be precisely right at all times, that life is a series of entertainments, that appetites are to be satisfied without regard to principle. How tragic the consequences of such hollow and unreasonable thinking!”

 

-Gordon B. Hinckley (What God Hath Joined Together) April 1991

 

7. “Your love, like a flower, must be nourished. There will come a great love and interdependence between you, for your love is a divine one. It is deep, inclusive, comprehensive. It is not like that association of the world which is misnamed love, but which is mostly physical attraction. When marriage is based on this only, the parties soon tire of each other. There is a break and a divorce, and a new, fresher physical attraction comes with another marriage which in turn may last only until it, too, becomes stale. The love of which the Lord speaks is not only physical attraction, but spiritual attraction as well. It is faith and confidence in, and understanding of, one another. It is a total partnership. It is companionship with common ideals and standards. It is unselfishness toward and sacrifice for one another. It is cleanliness of thought and action and faith in God and his program. It is parenthood in mortality ever looking toward godhood and creationship, and parenthood of spirits. It is vast, all-inclusive, and limitless. This kind of love never tires or wanes. It lives on through sickness and sorrow, through prosperity and privation, through accomplishment and disappointment, through time and eternity”

 

-Spencer W. Kimball “Faith Precedes the Miracle” Pg. 130–31

 

8. "I urge husbands and fathers of this Church to be the kind of men your wives would not want to be without. I urge the sisters of this Church to be patient, loving, and understanding with their husbands. Those who enter into marriage should be fully prepared to establish their marriage as the first priority in their lives."

 

-James E. Faust, “Fathers, Mothers, Marriage” August 2004

 

9. "Men and women joined together in marriage need to work together as a full partnership. However, a full and equal partnership between men and women does not imply the roles played by the two sexes are the same in God's grand design for His children. As the proclamation clearly states, men and women, though spiritually equal, are entrusted with different but equally significant roles."

 

-M. Russell Ballard, “The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood” March 2006

 

10. “I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”

-Henry B. Eyring, “Our Perfect Example” November 2009

 

Position Statement:

 

This is one of the most important topics of our day! In this world where society is trying to change the definition of marriage, I am happy to defend it. I am grateful for my spouse and for the blessing it is to be working towards the same goal together-exaltation in the celestial kingdom. The Gospel blesses us with the beautiful knowledge of eternal families. I am so grateful for it and for the things I have been taught since I was a little girl that have helped prepare me for temple marriage.