Covenant vs. Contractual Marriage
This week for class we read a wonderful article by Bruce C. Hafen entitled “Covenant Marriage.” I would highly recommend reading it to anyone and everyone! After reading it I felt much better about the fact that opposition tests every marriage and I am not alone. Before I married no one introduced this idea to me. My grandma’s, aunts, mom, and church leaders made it seem like marriage was all sunshine and rainbows. I wish I had been better prepared for the troubles or “wolves” as Elder Hafen put it, that come in marriage. Thankfully I do have a covenant marriage and at times that has made all the difference. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I believe that a covenant marriage is a three-way covenant, between God, my spouse and myself.
This week for class we read a wonderful article by Bruce C. Hafen entitled “Covenant Marriage.” I would highly recommend reading it to anyone and everyone! After reading it I felt much better about the fact that opposition tests every marriage and I am not alone. Before I married no one introduced this idea to me. My grandma’s, aunts, mom, and church leaders made it seem like marriage was all sunshine and rainbows. I wish I had been better prepared for the troubles or “wolves” as Elder Hafen put it, that come in marriage. Thankfully I do have a covenant marriage and at times that has made all the difference. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I believe that a covenant marriage is a three-way covenant, between God, my spouse and myself.
A covenant marriage gives me an eternal perspective. I know this life is not the end. This life, this mortality is the time to prepare to meet God. A covenant marriage puts Christ as the focal point. I love Elder Bednar’s triangle imagery. He said, “Please notice how the Savior is positioned at the apex of this triangle, with a woman at the base of one corner and a man at the base of the other corner. Now- consider what happens in the relationship between the man and the woman as they individually and steadily “come unto Christ” and strive to be “perfected in Him.” Because of and through the Redeemer, the man and woman come closer together.” As we receive Christ’s atonement it helps us overcome opposition until as Elder Hafen said, “we are eternally “at one,” with the Lord, and with each other.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie had some powerfully severe words when referring to those in a contractual marriage or those whose temple marriage are not sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. He taught ““Are you willing to jeopardize your eternities, your great continuing happiness, your privilege to see God and dwell in his presence? For the want of investigation and study and contemplation; because of prejudice, misunderstanding, or lack of knowledge, are you willing to forego these great blessings and privileges? Are you willing to make yourself a widow for eternity or a widower for endless ages—a single, separate individual to live alone and serve others? Are you willing to give up your children when they die or when you expire, and make them orphans? Are you willing to go through eternity alone and solitary when all of the greatest joys you have ever experienced in life could be ‘added upon’ and accentuated, multiplied, and eternalized? Are you willing, with the Sadducees, to ignore and reject these great truths? I sincerely pray you stop today and weigh and measure and then prayerfully proceed to make your happy marriage an eternal one. Our friends, please do not ignore this call. I beg of you, open your eyes and see; unstop your ears and hear.”
I don’t know about you but through these strong words I felt an apostle of the Lord begging and pleading me to make my marriage covenant a top priority. Just because I was married in the temple does not mean I have a free pass to eternal life. Having one’s marriage sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise requires a lifelong commitment to righteousness. I must strive everyday to keep the commandments and endure to the end.
How will you endure to the end in righteousness?
How will you endure to the end in righteousness?
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