Cherishing Your Spouse

I learned so much from this weeks reading. The one that really stood out to me was, “Lamentation” by Arta Romney Ballif. It talks about how Adam and Eve were a great example to us of a marriage.  To me, from reading this, I realized not even the very first couple had an easy marriage. I found it interesting that they mentioned that the importance of marriage and the purpose of life are intertwined and of the same. Adam and Eve weren’t perfect, they made mistakes, but in the end, they love Heavenly Father, they wanted to obey him, and they wanted to progress. My interpretation of it was that the hard times help us grow and help us appreciate the good times. Adam and Eve probably had tough times and trials, but I don’t think it was nearly as hard to have a happy marriage then as it in today’s world. Satan is working harder than ever to destroy the family unit. One way he does this is by putting thoughts in our mind that make us criticize our companion and make  us question whether we married the right person. A quote that I loved in the reading said:

“Don’t try to make him into what you want him to be. You fell in love with what he is. He will still grow. But you’ll learn from experience to trust what he does rather than jumping to
negative conclusions when you don’t understand something.”

Instead of criticizing, we need to be thinking of the good times, and amazing qualities of our spouse. We need to lift one another up instead of tearing each other down. 

Another thing that makes a marriage work is sacrifice. When I started dating my wife, I was a very social person. I would always be with friends, playing sports, and going to events. My priorities began to change. It’s not that I still didn’t hang out with my friends or go do fun things, but I would rather spend my time being with her than going to do those other things. To me, it wasn’t a sacrifice. It was something that I wanted. But to my wife, she is grateful that I was willing to give up doing those things as often so I could be with her.

What are some things that you gave up when you got married? Or what are some things that you can give up now to make your marriage better?