The Strengthening and Enabling Power of the Atonement

“Not only does the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities.” – Elder David A. Bednar, “Bear Up Their Burdens With Ease,” Ensign, May 2014

We often wonder why we have to go through certain hardships and trials. Feeling overwhelmed is common when encountering obstacles in life but through the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement, anything is possible.  On the title page of the Book of Mormon, it says that the purposes of these words are to show “what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.” The great things that the Lord did include strengthening and enabling them to do the works which He asked of them. There are many examples of people who are strengthened by the Lord in order to keep His commandments. So knowing that we are to learn from the Book of Mormon and apply the messages therein to our own lives, how can we be strengthened and enabled through the power of the atonement?

In Mosiah 3:19 it reads, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, 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, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

So, once we become submissive to the will of the Lord then we are in the right state of mind to be strengthened and empowered by the atonement. We need to have Faith that when we do what the Lord asks He will provide a way.

In 1 Nephi 3:7 it reads, “…I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”

The Lord will not ask us to do anything that we are not able to accomplish. He will always provide a way for us when we are doing His will. Elder David A. Bednar said, “The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Everyone enters marriage with their own "baggage"

“It does not take us long to realize that we do not enter marriage empty handed; we carry a lot of “baggage” with us. For instance, we bring our levels of self-esteem, our willingness to adapt to change, our attitudes toward life, and our expectations and values.” - Bernard Poduska

     Couples come together with two different sets of rules that they most likely learned from watching their parents as they grow up. The woman learns from her mother how she should act and what to do when she becomes a wife and a mother and the man learns the same sort of things from his father. The problem with this is although the woman learns from her mother, she also sees how her mother is treated by her father and expects the same or better from her own husband. This is the same for men and how they have seen their mothers throughout the years, they expect the same or better from their wife. Since they didn’t grow up in the same household with the same mother and father they will have completely different expectations of what marriage will be like and how their spouse should act. This can be a huge cause of conflict in the marriage or an opportunity to grow and unite as one. Once a couple is married, they are no longer subject to their parents and need to create their own marriage identity. President Spencer W. Kimball, referring to Genesis 2:24 said, “She, the woman, occupies the first place. She is preeminent, even above the parents who are so dear to all of us. Even the children must take there proper but significant place. I have seen some women who give their children that spot, that preeminence, in the affection and crowd out the father. That is a serious mistake.”

     Each of us has a schedule made up in our minds of where we think we should be in certain stages of life. Another conflict in marriage is caused by these unspoken schedules or subconscious timetables. The man may want to have children young like his parents did so he can be a young father and be active with his children while they grow up. The woman may want to wait longer to have children because she wants to travel and have fun before children tie her down. These schedules clash and can be a significant obstacle in the marriage. They need to communicate and explain their reasoning behind their wants and eventually come to a conclusion. Being greedy or selfish in marriage does not work, there has to be sacrifice and compromise. Once children become part of the picture, the cycle begins again. Each partner thinks back to their own childhood and how they each were raised and more often than not thinks that their way was the right way. Again, more compromise and communication is necessary. Keeping open communication behind WHY you think differently on certain things will help you understand each other and come to a conclusion.

“Many erroneously assume that the state of being happy is static rather than dynamic, or changing. However, life is change, and happiness is not fully appreciated in the absence of sorrow and hardship. Two people who go through life’s ups and downs together grow in ways neither may foresee.” – Bernard Poduska

Poduska, Bernard. Till Debt Do Us Part: Balancing Finances, Feelings, and Family. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain, 2000. Print.

Kimball, Spencer W. The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood - Ensign Mar. 1976 - Ensign. Lds.org, Mar. 1976. Web. 18 July 2015.

A husband and wife are to unite with one heart and one mind… How is this possible?

In his talk That We May Be One President Henry B. Eyring quoted the prayer Jesus said right before he had to leave his Apostles, “ ‘As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me’ (John 17:18-21). In those few words, He made clear how the gospel of Jesus Christ could allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would change. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.” Sometimes in marriage, we get into fights that seem impossible to resolve, people naturally clash sometimes and that is okay. As long as we also realize that turning toward our Savior Jesus Christ and striving to emulate His life will allow us to have a change of heart and be humbled. When our eyes are single to the glory of God we will do all we can to be obedient to Him and live our lives in such a way that we can have eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom. Our desires and wants will change and in so doing we will be united together and have the same focus and goals in mind.

We are not alone…

Not only do we have our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ helping us but we also have the constant companion of the Holy Ghost. When we live righteously we are blessed with inspiration, comfort, healing, and so much more, by having the Holy Ghost by our side. When we are living a life susceptible to the constant influence of the Holy Ghost, He will help us in our daily interactions with our spouse and others. President Eyring said, “Where people have the Sprit with them, we may expect harmony. The Spirit puts the testimony of truth in our hearts, which unifies those who share that testimony. The Spirit of God never generates contention; it only generates feelings of contention between people, which leads to strife. It leads to personal peace and a feeling of union with others. It unifies souls.” Having one foot rooted in worldly things and one in Godly things does not work. The worldly things cause contention, greed, jealousy, anger, etc. and put a wedge between your relationship with your spouse. Both feet must be planted firmly in the foundation of the Lord for unity to occur.  We must choose to do everything in our power to perfectly obey the Lord and His commandments. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. once said, “The Lord has given us nothing that is useless or unnecessary. He has filled the Scriptures with the things which we should do in order that we may gain salvation.” Being selective of which commandments or council from the Prophets to obey is not acceptable, and will not bring you closer to your spouse or Savior. Strict obedience to all things is a crucial part of the plan. We must surrender our own desires and put our life in the hands of the Lord.

“Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.” 

― Albert Einstein

Men and women are different and designed that way for divine purposes. Regarding differences between people President Stephen L Richards spoke, “…In the spirit under which we labor, men [and women] can get together with seemingly divergent views and far different backgrounds, and under the operation of that spirit, by counseling together, they can arrive at an accord, and that accord… represents the wisdom of council, acting under the spirit.” No matter what your differences are in marriage if discussed in a spiritually minded way unity can occur. Elder Rulon G. Craven described the way the first presidency and quorum of the twelve apostles communicate during meetings. I believe we can all learn much from their example. He says, “I have noticed that each of the Brethren is not so much concerned with expressing his own point of view as he is with listening to the point of view of others and striving to created a proper climate in the Council meetings. They are sensitive to one another’s thoughts and rarely interrupt one another during their conversations. During discussion they do not push their own ideas but try to determine from the discussion what would be best for the kingdom.” If we apply this sort of communication to our own lives, and how we council with our spouse, we will find it much easier to unite in difficult circumstances.

There is much too much Infidelity because of pornography

 in – fi – del – i – ty : The action or state of being unfaithful to a spouse or other sexual partner.

Example: She was convinced that her husband was guilty of infidelity.

·       “It is estimated that roughly 30 to 60% of all married individuals (in the United States) will engage in infidelity at some point during their marriage. And these numbers are probably on the conservative side, when you consider that close to half of all marriages end in divorce” (Shackelford). That means up to six out of every ten people who are married will most likely be unfaithful at some point in their relationship. Today we're going to talk about how Pornography affects marriage.  

PORNOGRAPHY: The leading cause for infidelity in marriage.

The facts…

• Every second 28,258 users are watching pornography and $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography on the internet.
• 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography
• There are 68 million pornography searches a day
• 1/3 of porn viewers are women
• Search engines get 116,000 queries every day related to child pornography
• 34% of internet users have experienced unwanted exposure to pornographic content through ads, pop up ads, misdirected links or emails
• 2.5 billion emails sent or received every day contain porn
• Every 39 minutes a new pornography video is being created in the United States

SAY NO TO PORNOGRAPHY 

In a talk given by President Kimball he said, “The Bible makes plain that evil, when related to sex, means not the use of something inherently corrupt but the misuse of something pure and good. It teaches clearly that sex can be a wonderful servant but a terrible master: that it can be a creative force more powerful than any other in the fostering of love, companionship, and happiness, or can be the most destructive of all life’s forces.” Where pornography is concerned, it becomes a master of evil that can completely rip apart a godly soul.

SAY NO TO PORNOGRAPHY 

Things often start out innocent, but because of Satan, there are constant temptations that lead so many people down a dark and dreadful path. There are many different reasons husbands or wives turn to pornography and the number one is that they are struggling sexually in their marriage. Because they are not getting this satisfaction, they look elsewhere to find it. “The divine impulse within every true man and woman that impels companionship with the opposite sex is intended by our Maker as a holy impulse for a holy purpose, but not to be satisfied as a mere biological urge or as a lust of the flesh in promiscuous associations, but to be reserved as an expression of true love in holy wedlock” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church). Instead of satisfying their sexual desires through pornography they should cleave unto their spouse and work things out.

SAY NO TO PORNOGRAPHY 

Regarding sexual differences in marriage Dr. John Gottman said, "So often when a husband and wife talk to each other about their sexual needs, their conversations are . . . indirect, imprecise, inconclusive. Frequently both partners are in a hurry to end the conversation, hopeful that they will miraculously understand each other's desires without much talk. . . . The problem is that the less clear you are about what you do and don't want, the less likely you are to get it. Sex can be such a fun way to share with each other and deepen your sense of intimacy. But when communication is fraught with tension, then frustration and hurt feelings too often result." (1999, pp. 200-201). Because sex is something that not many people feel comfortable talking about with their partner they tend to turn away from them and try to find satisfaction in other forms or places. This is when problems occur. Turn toward your spouse, bit the bullet and just TALK ABOUT SEX. Is it more important to avoid an awkward conversation than it is to save your marriage?

 SAY NO TO PORNOGRAPHY 

"Truth About Deception." Truth About Deception. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2015. <http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/cheating-and-infidelity/stats-about-infidelity.html>.

Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Susceptibility to infidelity in the first year of marriage. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 193-221.

What is Charity? And how does it make or break a marriage

             While reading the book Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage by H. Wallace Goddard, PhD. He talks about the importance of having a heart full of charity and how it can make or break a marriage. He says, “In an effort to understand charity, it is important to know what it is NOT. It is not artificial good cheer. It is not a thin veneer of politeness on a distressed soul. It is not holding our tongues while judging and resenting others. Rather it is a sacred and heavenly gift.” Moroni 7:47 reads, “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”

So, what does Charity look like..?

It looks like a man who comes home from a 12-hour shift at work completely exhausted to a house that is a mess and dinner not yet made or put on the table. Instead of being upset with his wife or complaining about his day he simply asks, “what can I do to help?” That is charity. When we find ourselves in a situation that we could easily get upset and instead choose to be kind, we are exercising charity in our heart. That is just one simple, day-to-day example of how charity could be used to strengthen a marriage.

We all know that being married is not easy and after the two-year “honeymoon phase” wears off we start to see irritants in our partner as faults that need to be fixed. Instead of focusing on ourselves, and ways we need to improve, we turn to our partner and try to improve them. Why? It is easier to find the fault in other people and ignore our own shortcomings than it is to face our own faults and work on changing them. When we pick apart our partner and focus on the qualities in them we do not particularly like, we are drawing a wedge in our relationship. Criticism does not lead to change or growth, it leads to defensiveness, anger, and distance. Instead, we need to allow the pure love of Christ to encompass our soul and help us turn to Him in all things. When we have an eye focused on Christ we are less likely to get annoyed, upset, or complain about things our spouse or other people do around us. Elder Caldwell once said, “Charity sustains us in every need and influences us in every decision.”

When irritants arise, we have a choice, “will the irritants be the basis for blaming or for compassion? When we react with blame, it usually worsens the condition we hate. We see more faults and feel more irritated. In our own ways, we all contribute to our own happiness. There is an alternative. At every critical juncture, we can choose compassion. We can choose understanding, patience, and personal growth… We can use our differences to balance each other and to spur growth” (Goddard). Many people believe once they are married all their relationship problems are solved, in many cases they are just beginning. Goddard said,  “ Marriage is God’s finishing school for the godly soul. Marriage is ordained to stretch and refine us.” As a blacksmith refines metal with fire, the process is not meant to be easy.

“The single most promising marriage-fixing effort is not tinkering with our partners’ characters; it is in loving, cherishing, and appreciating them!” (Goddard). We need to love and appreciate our partners just the way they are, without conditions to change certain characteristics. “Terry Warner poses a question that invites us to think in an entirely different way than we usually do. He suggests that the key to happy relationships is not finding gentle-sounding ways to request change. Instead, “what would happen if we dropped all charges against those around us and, for their sakes, happily sacrificed all bitter satisfaction, all retribution, all demand for repayment, all vengeance without regret or second thoughts?” (Goddard). What a world it would be if everyone did this! There would be world peace, and 100% success rate for marriage. We must all strive to have Charity, the pure love of Christ in our hearts. When we do, we will be able to strengthen or repair our marriages and be happy in our own skin.

Works cited

Goddard, H, Wallace, Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage: Powerful Principles with Eternal Results, Fairfax, VA: Meridian Pub., 2007, Print. 

"LET'S AGREE TO DISAGREE…"

Marriage is a union between two VERY different human beings. No matter how “alike” you and your spouse are, you will always have differences. These differences lead to disagreements that lead to fights. There are two types of fights in a marriage, ones that can be resolved, and ones that cannot. The first type is easy, you figure things out, compromise, and get past it. The second type is much more difficult. It is a disagreement that will be there through all, or most of your married life. A conflict that cannot, and probably will not ever be resolved. Psychologist Dan Wile said, “When choosing a long-term partner… you will inevitably be choosing a particular set of unsolvable problems that you’ll be grappling with for the next ten, twenty, or fifty years.” This statement is exactly true. Newlyweds who fight about things in the early stage of marriage will likely be fighting about the same sort of things in their later years together.

“Despite what many therapists will tell you, you don’t have to resolve your major marital conflicts for your marriage to thrive” – Dr. John M. Gottman

However, when couples have this sort of disagreement it can become very unhealthy for the marriage if handled the wrong way. So how do you live with an unsolvable problem? Dr. Gottman says those who recognize the problem and learn to live with it have a more successful and enjoyable marriage. It is crucial for couples to continue acknowledging the problem and learn to live with it and talk about it with good humor. It is unhealthy to try to ignore a problem or avoid ever bringing it up. Doctor Gottman says, “Avoiding conflict over a perpetual problem leads to emotional disengagement. The couple’s trust in each other and the relationship declines as they become increasingly trapped in the negativity… As the gridlock worsens, they each come to feel that the other is just plain selfish and cares only about him- or herself. They may still live together but are on the course toward leading parallel lives and inevitable loneliness – the death knell for any marriage.”

“Husband and Wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other…” - The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Elder Lynn G. Robbins once said, “A cunning part of [Satan’s] strategy is to dissociate anger from agency, making us believe we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control.” We must combat this feeling of anger and animosity toward our spouses in time of disagreement and try to understand their true feelings. We cannot love and care for each other when there are negative emotions and cruel judgments. Since perpetual problems ultimately lead to emotional disengagement, we must learn to combat them at first sight of recognition. The key to doing so according to Dr. Gottman is to “Uncover and share with each other the significant personal dreams you have for your life. I have found that unrequited dreams are at the core of every gridlocked conflict. In other words, the endless argument symbolizes some profound difference between the two of you that needs to be addressed before you can put the problem in its place.” We must figure out the root of why each of us are feeling a certain way about whatever the problem is and then work from there. When you open up to your spouse about your hopes and dreams that are fueling the fire of your disagreement, you open the doors for trust and understanding which are two essential parts to a happy marriage.