Celestial Marriages Require Great Sacrifice

Book of Mormon Marriage And Family Study

“and suffered all things save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than have suffered these afflictions.”

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. Marriage and family requires deep sacrifice and selfishness is the main reason for divorce. Abandoning home and all the comforts of life for the wilderness is a sacrifice for anyone. However, for Laman and Lemuel they could not see that they were pursuing something better.

Sacrificing is giving up something important for something more important. I think the challenge of life is to see clearly what is important and what is not important, and therefore to give up the unimportant. For example, wives crave quality time with meaningful conversation. This fills their emotional need almost more than anything else. This is hard to do when the TV is on. Truly, giving up the TV to build a Celestial marriage is not a sacrifice. Compared to a deep, meaningful and loving relationship with a wife; the TV is meaningless.

What would you give up to have a relationship like this from Elder Holland’s talk Songs Sung And Unsung, April 2017 General Conference;

How grateful we are that in the midst of these kinds of challenges, there comes, from time to time, another kind of song that we find ourselves unable to sing, but for a different reason. This is when feelings are so deep and personal, even so sacred, that they either cannot be or should not be expressed—like Cordelia’s love for her father, of which she said: “My love’s … richer than my tongue. … I cannot heave my heart into my mouth.” Coming to us as something holy, these sentiments are simply unutterable—spiritually ineffable—like the prayer Jesus offered for the Nephite children. Those who were witnesses to that event recorded:

“Eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard … so great and marvelous things (love) as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; 

“… No tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak.” These kinds of sanctified moments remain unuttered because expression, even if it were possible, might seem like desecration.

What if your wife and children felt love for you (because you have sacrificed and loved them) so great that human words and expression was impossible to relate their feelings of love? Certainly any sacrifice is worth this!

President Hinckley said,

“After dealing with hundreds of divorce situations through the years, I am satisfied that the application of a single practice would do more than all else to solve this grievous problem.

If every husband and every wife would constantly do whatever might be possible to ensure the comfort and happiness of his or her companion, there would be very little, if any, divorce. Argument would never be heard. Accusations would never be leveled. Angry explosions would not occur. Rather, love and concern would replace abuse and meanness.

The cure for most marital troubles does not lie in divorce. It lies in repentance and forgiveness, in expressions of kindness and concern. It is to be found in application of the Golden rule.

I have learned that the real essence of happiness in marriage lies…in an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of ones companion. Thinking of self alone and of the gratification of personal desires will build neither trust, love, nor happiness. Only when there is unselfishness will love, with its concomitant qualities, flourish and blossom.”

If you live in the Salt Lake City valley, I invite you to join us at church on Sunday's at 1 p.m. We are a mid-singles ward; however, if you have a family please don't let that stop you. Please, join us for for our first meeting which is Sacrament meeting, and make sure you ask someone to introduce you to our ward mission leader. Our address is 7155 South 540 East, Midvale Utah, 84047.