Valentine’s Day comes but once a year. So, what is a married couple to do the rest of the year? Here are some thoughts from the Brethren, on how to make your marriage strong every day of the year.
N. Eldon Tanner
- Keep the covenants made at the time of your marriage.
- The young man should make every effort to make her happy, by making her happy she cannot help but want to reciprocate and do everything she can for his comfort and welfare.
- Clear up misunderstandings. It doesn’t matter who is right, but what is right.
- Continue loving one another daily
Sterling W. Sills
“Someone has said that marriage is a fifty-fifty proposition…We need in our marriages a little more of the second-mile or Golden Rule or turn-the-other-cheek kind of philosophy. With a better philosophy we might then be able to construct a sixty-sixty marriage or even a hundred-hundred marriage. Then even if both partners should stub their toes or turn in a shortage, there would still be enough marriage to cover the requirements and fulfill all of the needs.”
Marion D. Hanks
Friendship in a marriage is so important. It blows away the chaff and takes the kernel, rejoices in the uniqueness of the other, listens patiently, gives generously, forgives freely. Friendship will motivate one to cross the room one day and say, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean that.” It will not pretend perfection nor demand it. It will not insist that both respond exactly the same in every thought and feeling, but it will bring to the union honesty, integrity. There will be repentance and forgiveness in every marriage—every good marriage—and respect and trust.
Russell M. Nelson
Celestial marriage is a pivotal part of preparation for eternal life. It requires one to be married to the right person, in the right place, by the right authority, and to obey that sacred covenant faithfully. Then one may be assured of exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God.
Spencer W. Kimball
One young man, the president of an elders’ quorum, said he was too busy to marry. We are glad he is busy. But no man is too busy to take care of his marriage responsibilities.
Another young man had been promised in a patriarchal blessing that marriage would soon come, so he had let up in his efforts to get married. I would like to say that all the patriarchal blessings that you might get will never come to pass unless you do something about them yourselves.
One young man stated that he must get his education first. But it is not necessary for one to wait until he has completed his secular education before he marries. Many men have finished their education after their marriage, and their wives have been a great help to them.
One young man said that he expected to reach exaltation in the celestial kingdom as one of the Lord’s messengers, without having to marry. He does not understand. No one who rejects the covenant of celestial marriage can reach exaltation in the eternal kingdom of God.
The Lord’s program is unchangeable. His laws are immutable. They will not be modified. Your opinions or mine do not make any difference and do not alter the laws. Many of the world think that eventually the Lord will be merciful and give to them unearned blessings. Do not take any chances whatever.
David A. Bednar
Many years ago, Sister Bednar and I were busy trying to meet the countless competing demands of a young and energetic family—and of Church, career, and community responsibilities. One evening after the children were asleep, we talked at length about how effectively we were attending to all of our important priorities. We realized that we would not receive the promised blessings in eternity if we did not honor more fully the covenant we had made in mortality. We resolved together to do and to be better as a husband and a wife. That lesson learned so many years ago has made a tremendous difference in our marriage.
Burton Howard
If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by. Eternal marriage is just like that. We need to treat it just that way.
Joseph B. Wirthlin
I remember the first time I met my wife, Elisa. As a favor to a friend, I had gone to her home to pick up her sister, Frances. Elisa opened the door, and at least for me, it was love at first sight.
I think she must have felt something too, for the first words I ever remember her saying were, “I knew who you was.”
Elisa was an English major.
To this day I still cherish those five words as some of the most beautiful in human language. She was my strength and my joy. Because of her, I am a better man, husband, and father. We married, had eight children, and walked together through 65 years of life.
Happy Valentine’s Year!