I was very inspired this week by the talk called, “Covenant
Marriage” by Elder Bruce C. Hafen. While studying this talk, I pictured myself
and my new husband on March 14, 2015. We had just be sealed for time and all
eternity and we now walking out of the temple doors as eternal companions. We
were (and still are) so happy. We took a huge leap of faith, but we knew that
it would be worth it- so worth it! Since that beautiful start of forever, we
have felt joy, sadness, success, and heartache. Just like every marriage there
is opposition in all things, but just like Elder Hafen mentioned, I have
learned the importance of having a marriage that is based on a covenant rather
than a contract.
As I have thought a lot this week about what a covenant marriage looks like, I
have come to the conclusion that a covenant marriage is one that never gives
up. The husband and wife put their whole heart into the marriage. Covenant
companions each truly give 100 percent. Adam and Eve are a perfect example of a
couple where each gave 100 percent. They stuck by each other’s sides, even when
times were tough. I feel so much gratitude for Adam and Eve because without
their decision to partake of the fruit, they would have never known opposition.
“They would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state
of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery” (2 Nephi 2:23). Left in
the garden, they would have never known what true joy feels like. By being
sealed for time and all eternity, we are able to experience what the scriptures
call, “incomprehensible JOY!
Did you know that just one horse can pull
8,000 pounds? That is a lot of weight, but did you also know that two horses,
working together, can pull 24,000 pounds? These horses are teaching us a very
clear lesson about teamwork. A covenant marriage is a team. I believe that it
is the hard times that help a marriage grow even closer together.
I know that eternal marriage is not just a
temporary legal contract that can end at any time for almost any reason, but it
is actually a sacred covenant with God that is binding here on earth and
throughout all eternity. An eternal marriage faces opposition, never gives up,
is a team, gives 100 percent, and is able to feel incomprehensible joy.
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