To have a happy marriage both sides have to give their 100% to the relationship. It takes sacrifice and fidelity on both parts. In the book, Drawing Heaven into your marriage, by H. Wallace Goddard he says:
“When we make sacrifices, we are following the example of the Savior, who sacrificed everything in order to rescue us. The making of holy sacrifices is full of grace and truth. The willingness to put our preferences on the altar in obedience to God and service of our partner is a sacrifice filled with grace and truth-goodness and eternal vision. Our sacrifices are the key to our growth and eternal possibilities. So it turns out that our sacrifices are not sacrifices, but purchases” (pg 41).
He says this so well and it made me stop to think, what sacrifices am I making for my marriage? I encourage you to think about this and contemplate what sacrifices you are making. Maybe there are sacrifices that you aren’t making, but realize you should be. As he said, when we are making sacrifices, we are putting those things on the altar. This shows a spouse how much they mean to us and how they are more important than other things. When we are putting our spouse first, we are putting our relationship first and by working at our relationship, this is what will build our love map. We are building that deep friendship that truly will help a marriage last through any test thrown there way. Deep friendship as well as fondness and admiration are key in a marriage!
Goddard also talks about making payments in your marriage- relating also to sacrifices. He describes this investment in the following,
“Yet the full experience of marriage will demand regular payments across time. What seemed so easy at first will later feel impossible. We may feel cheated when we discover that this bargain requires so much of us. Character and companionship do not come without consistent investment. Yet, if we continue to make payments on our relationship, we will be amazed what we get for our “sacrifices”(pg 42).
As we ,make sacrifices and put these on the altar, invest our time and efforts in our marriage, and as it says in Mosiah 3:19 “putteth off the natural man” and “…becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him” we will build marriages that will withstand the test of time.
The last thing I want to share is when Goddard added, “Obedience also requires that we “love [our spouse] with all [our] heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else” (D&C 42:22)” (pg 45).
I hope to continue to build on the wonderful friendship and relationship that my husband and I have. We started out as best friends and then dated at the end of high school. We have been together for six years and married the last two of them. I am thankful for my husband and the man that he is. I am thankful for the sacrifices that he makes each and every day. My hope is that our children will look up to our marriage one day and crave that same marriage for themselves.
Goddard, H.W. (2007). Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage. Fairfax, VA: Meridian Publishing. (ISBN: 9781441486547
Marriage 