Why Marriage Matters

I wanted to share some thoughts about the importance of marriage. I remember when I was a little girl I wanted to get married and have 10 children. Well, we don't have much control over the number of children that come into our home. But Todd and I do have total control over the amount of happiness in our marriage. I'm not an expert at marriage. I haven't been married for as long as many. But I know that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God." I am so thankful for the sweet companion I have been blessed with. The opportunity to work at a marriage is a blessing. And marriage must be work, for if we didn't work at it, it wouldn't last for eternity, as God has intended it. It, along with parenthood, is the most important work we have in this life. Elder M. Russell Ballard taught, "As we are often reminded, we will be released one day from our Church callings; but if we are worthy, we will never be released from our family relationships." These are some ways "work" in marriage can be a joy and a blessing: counsel together as a couple on a weekly basis, attend the temple consistently and frequently, study the gospel together, be honest with one another, make decisions about finances together, talk frequently about parenting styles and children, repent and forgive, we don't do girls/boys nights out (mostly because we would just rather be together), do silly things together, have traditions for you as a couple, work together on projects, try to not let offenses by one another or others to cause bitterness in our hearts, and worship the Lord together. Marriage takes sacrifice. It is effort. Each of these things is a conscious decision and something Todd and I do deliberately. 

Do we have things to do better? Absolutely. Always. That's why we are married: to work together at growing closer to the Lord and raising the children He sent to our home. I know family relationships are meant to last beyond this life, even for eternity. And the Lord has provided the means for them to do so, in His holy temples. I know that God has decreed that marriage is between man and woman, and that the sacred powers of procreation are only to be used between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. I know that the family is ordained of God, and that parents are to help one another as equal partners and teach their children. I know that the family unit is just a glimpse of what it will be like after this life. 

Elder Ballard taught, "Public opinion surveys indicate that people everywhere in the world generally consider the family as the highest priority; yet in recent years the broader culture seems to ignore or misdefine the family. Consider some of the changes of the past decade:

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  Many larger national and international institutions that used to support and strengthen families now try to supplant and even sabotage the very families they were created to serve.
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  In the name of “tolerance,” the definition of family has been expanded beyond recognition to the point that “family” can be any individuals of any gender who live together with or without commitment or children or attention to consequence.
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  Rampant materialism and selfishness delude many into thinking that families, and especially children, are a burden and a financial millstone that will hold them back rather than a sacred privilege that will teach them to become more like God." (To read the rest of Elder Ballard's talk, CLICK HERE).

I am so thankful for the institution of marriage, as defined by the Lord. And that He allows those sacred relationships with companion and children to last beyond this life for eternity, as we are worthy. For without them, it would be no eternal reward. But with them, it means everything, and is worth every sacrifice. 

To learn more about what God has declared about families, please visit The Family Proclamation.