Doctrine of Eternal Marriage

In a talk given by Elder Bednar he tells of his wife and how they were able to successfully accomplish all in a given day even though they had a young family..  They could complete what they needed to at work, school, and with their children.  However, one day he and his wife started to talk and they realized even with all their success they had forgotten to set aside the time that they needed to strengthen their relationship as a husband and wife.  After talking they made the changes they needed to spend more time with one another and Elder Bednar said that they have seen all the great things that have come from making that choice.

As a Latter-Day-Saint, you think that it would be easy for me to remember that my marriage is for eternity and that I would set time aside to strengthen it.  But we too often get caught up in work and other things to always remember what is truly important in the long run.  If you look at something in a light that is more than just of this world it changes its importance.  I know that there have been times in my own marriage where I have wanted to yell and get angry but have chosen instead to talk things out with my husband in a calm and collected manner.  This has kept unnecessary conflict out of the way and has shown us the strength that comes from looking at our relationship as more than just this life.

I think we also tend to take our roles in marriage for granted.  We too often want to blame one another rather than take responsibility.  This brings me to a quote that I saw on Facebook a few years ago,…

I think that sometimes we forget that marriage is not 50/50 if we only gave 50% effort we would be failing.  To get an A, to have the most success, we must be willing to give 100%, 100% of the time.  For some marriages, this can be difficult, as one spouse may be giving 100% where the other may only be giving 30%.  Do not let this discourage you, talk with your spouse and work out a plan to create a stronger bond between one another.  I know that my marriage started to grow by leaps and bounds by just telling my husband what I thought.  People are not mind readers and it is very likely that your spouse may not even know what is going on or how to help.  Let us not forget that marriage is like a tango, it takes two.