My Thoughts on Charity in Marriage

The past week and a half have been spent studying all about love. Not just any love though, charity - the pure love of Christ. A portion of this weeks lesson focused on having charity in our marriages, and I gave a talk in church this past Sunday about basically the same thing. 

 

One of the talks in this past General Conference talked about seeing our fellowmen through our Heavenly Father's eyes. Elder Renlund, newly called apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said the following:

"... in the Church, to effectively serve others we must see them through a parent’s eyes, through Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul. Only then can we sense the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. Only then can we sense the Savior’s caring concern for them. We cannot completely fulfill our covenant obligation to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort unless we see them through God’s eyes. This expanded perspective will open our hearts to the disappointments, fears, and heartaches of others.”

It is so easy to get angry and frustrated with our spouses. However, it is important that we work on seeing them for who they are, children of a loving Father in Heaven. We must strive to understand where they are coming from in any given situation. We need to be loving towards them instead of criticizing. 

This last Sunday in one of our classes, a woman shared a simple story about how she worked on showing love and charity toward her spouse. Her husband was in dental school at the time and she often would iron his scrubs for him. One day, for whatever reason, she was really annoyed that she was ironing his scrubs. She didn't really want to. Then she changed her perspective on the situation. She decided to think positively; she chose to acknowledge that she was ironing his scrubs because she loves him. I'm so grateful she shared this story, because the very next day I had a chance to practice. My husband had left several dirty clothes spread across our tiny room. I was upset that he had been so inconsiderate. I was annoyed because I had to gather the laundry to do it at my in-laws since ours was broken. I was gently reminded of this woman's story and decided to think the same thing. It changed my perspective and helped my love for my husband grow.