Eternal Marriage

As a young boy, enjoying playing in the dirt and with toy cars, I had never thought of marriage or a family of my own.  As I grew older I started to think what it would be like to have my own family.  Growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I noticed adults mention the difference of getting married in the temple and getting married civilly.  In a civil marriage a man and a woman are married until death.  If God wants us to be like him and live in happiness, why would he give us a family here on earth and then separate us from that family after death?  He wouldn’t.  The temple is the house of the Lord and a man and woman can be married for all time and eternity.  Ezra Taft Benson said it perfectly when he gave a talk about the importance of temples.

What I Hope You Will Teach Your Children about the Temple by President Ezra Taft Benson

“The temple is an ever-present reminder that God intends the family to be eternal. How fitting it is for mothers and fathers to point to the temple and say to their children, “That is the place where we were married for eternity.”

When our children obey the Lord and go to the temple to receive their blessings and enter into the marriage covenant, they enter into the same order of the priesthood that God instituted in the very beginning with father Adam. Our Father’s house is a house of order. We go to His house to enter into that order of priesthood which will entitle us to all that the Father hath, if we are faithful."

When my friends marry outside the temple in a civil marriage I don’t look down upon them.  This world and especially the United States has less married couples than ever before.  I am ecstatic when people marry, committing themselves to one another and showing their families and the community they are willing to be faithful to each other.  I do know the Lord has a plan that extends into the eternities for us.  He does not plan for us to gain friendships and families here and lose them after death.  When people hear “Mormons” talk about how sacred the temple is and all the rich blessings it offers to faithful members, it is not to mock or put down, but it is an expression of joy.  Families know if they are married in the temple and keep their covenants and God’s commandments, they will be with their family after this life for the eternities. The video clip below paints a picture of this hope and joy.

Temple Marriage

This video shows us Temple Marriage is one of the greatest blessings God has given us on this earth today, but that doesn’t mean everything will be perfect and worry free.  Bruce Hafen explains it beautifully.

Covenant Marriage by Bruce C. Hafen

“Covenant marriage requires a total leap of faith: they must keep their covenants without knowing what risks that may require of them. They must surrender unconditionally, obeying God and sacrificing for each other. Then they will discover what Alma called “incomprehensible joy.”

Although life is tuff and marriage can be difficult, when a couple is married in the temple they can receive more heavenly help from God because they have committed and are living the covenants made in the temple.  I want to live with my family forever.  I want to have “incomprehensible joy” as I reunite with my family after this life.  I know I can have those blessings as I marry in the temple and obey my covenants and God’s commandments.