Starting today's blog post, I wanted to share first and foremost the importance of Marriage. There have been many worldly benefits of being married one of them being "... an increase in the percentage of Americans living in domestic partnerships as opposed to being single would have an apparently positive impact on the economy." But there is something much deeper than what it affects, it affects relationships not only with our spouse but also with other relationships we may have. Marriage is a beautiful union between a man and woman, that have love and respect for one another.
In this day and age, the trend has been moving away from the idea of marriage, we have seen cohabitation and starter marriages, the relationship that both of these have is that there is no commitment. The issue with no commitment is that both parties want an easy way out, if it gets hard, then they can slip right out without any difficulty. Why is this happening?
Another issue is that that same idea is sinking into marriages that are wanting divorce, it is too hard, my needs aren't being met, they are stopping me from my potential on and on... One of the things that I have found most intriguing is when we are in these positions, we need to first ask our selves, Is there something that can be done about my situation, can I change? And when we answer these questions, we need to think of the first step, and that first step starts with repentance.
Repentance is one of the first principles of the gospel and is essential to our temporal and eternal happiness. It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments. We need to remember that the "...remedy is not always divorce but repentance. Often the cause is not incompatibility but selfishness. The first step is not separation but reformation." "A good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection."
If we have this mentality when thinking about getting a divorce or leaving our partner, we should first think about what we can do, what we can control and if we do everything we can do to re-build and up lift the relationship, we will be blessed and we will be healed. It is not going to be easy, and at times even harder, but it will be well worth it.
