Mormon temple marriage

In Mormon temples, we marry for eternity. We also make covenants to God that we will obey him for eternity. Marriage relationships compare easily to our relationships with God. In a marriage, love cannot thrive where there is no work. Married couples need to serve each other, do things together, work hard for the good of their family, and spend time in working to understand each other. Marriage relationships need to be nourished from the inside by unselfishness and willingness to listen to the other partner. Marriages do not survive without our watchful care.

Temple covenants with God need care, like a temple marriage

Just like some newlywed couples, we sometimes expect our relationship with God to be perfect, and for everything to keep itself up. We love him, after all. But we can’t expect “love” to carry the relationship through for us. God is perfect, and his love will always hold up his end of the bargain-he has already atoned for our sins and still does continually bless us. Our love, however, does not survive without hard work. We need to work with the Lord to serve his Church. We need to serve others with the aid of the Lord. We need to nourish our relationship with God by listening to him, being unselfish in our personal wants, and talking to him.

Even when one half of the relationship is being held up by Deity, we need to constantly watch and care for the bond. If we don’t, it may fail. This relationship is too important to let fall, and it is never the other party’s fault. We can tell ourselves we are too busy, too tired, or too mad to do our part to keep the relationship. People every day do it in their marriages, and we see the results in a high divorce rate. We cannot afford to not reach out, work, and listen unselfishly in our relationships, either with God or with our spouses.

Keeping temple covenants is the key to marriage relationships and relationships with God

As couples work hard to keep their marriages alive, they grow to love one another. Working together and serving each other have that amazing effect. In the same way, we can learn to love God more and know him more when we work with him and serve him. Keeping temple covenants is the key to upholding our end of the relationship, both with God and with our spouses. The spiritual strength that comes from obeying God has great power to heal marriages. Whether the relationship is with an imperfect, sometimes irresponsible, occasionally annoying mortal or with a perfect, loving Father in Heaven, we must do our all to hold up the relationship. Your relationships will always be your responsibility, and you have the power to keep them.

“As a husband and wife are each drawn to the Lord, as they learn to serve and cherish one another, as they share life experiences and grow together and become one, and as they are blessed through the uniting of their distinctive natures, they begin to realize the fulfillment that our Heavenly Father desires for His children. Ultimate happiness, which is the very object of the Father’s plan, is received through the making and honoring of eternal marriage covenants.” (“Marriage Is Essential to His Eternal Plan,” Ensign, Jun 2006, 86)

We have to do things in marriage that can be hard: serving each other, sharing life experiences (life can be difficult), uniting different natures, and keeping covenants. Everyone has struggles in doing these things, but these struggles help us grow closer to the Lord. The hard times and the strength we build to overcome them with the Lord are what bring the happiness and fulfillment God promises.

A temple marriage gives a couple covenants to keep that are goals for each of them in the marriage. As couples keep promises to the Lord, they will also keep promises to each other. God’s commandments are meant to bring people together, especially in marriages, and if we obey God, we can treat those around us the way Jesus would. In a marriage, there are many things that can divide the attention and devotion of either partner, whether it be a car, a job, some worldly goal, or another person, these things pull marriages apart. When couples let their devotion to each other only be partnered with a devotion to God, they grow closer together.

During the hard times, it is sometimes easier to turn to something outside of the marriage for help, comfort, or distraction. The only thing we can turn to that will help the family and the marriage is the Lord. He can help us heal and turn back to our marriages and families with love, growing closer to them by growing closer to him. Our marriages and families are what truly bring us happiness, both in this life and in the eternities. The Lord wants us to have that happiness, and he does everything to help us reach it. He gives us temple ordinances that unite families for eternity, and if we turn to him, he can give us the strength we need to keep marriages strong and families together.

But of course you love your children—how do you show it? You’ll find that what makes your children feel loved may be different from how you feel loved, or how your other children feel loved. You need to know your children and be aware of who they are. There are a number of ways to find out how they feel appreciated and loved.

Read more at our site’s new article about Loving Your Children.