Love in Our Marriages by Elder Terence M.

Vinson
On 9th January 2017, the first devotional for the year was held and addressed by the
Area President Elder Terence Vinson, below is a summary of that message by Esther
Abuyeh of the Office of Legal Counsel.

It is important to understand how love is and how we should model our love. We
should follow Christ-like love of Charity which is the greatest characteristic of the
Savior. This love makes us feel His love and helps us gain a personal testimony of the
Saviors atonement.

It is hard for people who are outside the Church to understand why we do the things
we do such as paying our tithes, and spending so much time at Church but that is
because we love the Savior Jesus Christ. We love Him because He loves us and
sometimes, we see people starting to fall out of love with God because of the
distractions of the world. This leads to bad results such as struggling with things in life,
and our relationships begin to fail because our love for God is the basis for our love
for all.

When Adam and Eve were brought to the earth, they were given instructions in a
particular order. When God gives instructions in a particular order, we need to take
note of the order, that order is important. In Moses 2:28 be fruitful and multiply
and replenish the earth... Adam and Eve had to transgress a law in order to have
children and they made the choice in order to have children.

Moses 3:20 . but as for Adam, there was not found and help meet for him. Eve
was to be measured equally to Adam and that they would help each other and not that
Adam was the boss and Eve was to do what he says. Our marriages should be such,
that we are equal partners.

Moses 3:24, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. Cleave means to be joint
together so it cant be separated as with animals with cloven feet. In marriage,
husbands and wives are to cleave together and work together so that they are no more
two individuals but one and united in all that they do.

The first reason for divorce is sexual transgression, a desire to have sexual relations
with someone other than ones spouse and the second is searching for the riches of
the world.
In the earlier years of my business I had to move my business location closer to home
so that I could have more time for my family. This was detrimental for my business
but I did that out of love for my family and love for God. Our choices in life
determines our priorities and our priorities should be based on our love for God.
I cannot imagine that any man would consider divorcing the mother of his children
knowing the pain and love she has given for those children. But this happens because
we forget our priorities. President Hinckley gave the real reason for divorce as
selfishness. If two people will discard selfishness, generally they will be a happy
people.

In marriage, we give 100% - just as we fully keep Gods commandments. This is

because of our love for Him and not because of the blessings. When we start to think
of ourselves before our spouse, we are in danger and we give away the most important
relationship that we will have in eternity.

Marriage is not about you but about your spouse. When we have a desire to do
everything that we need to do to build and foster love for our spouse, then we are
ready to be married. When we have the attitude to help in our marriage, love
grows. When we see the sacrifices that others make for us, we grow in love with
them. When we make sacrifices for others, we grow in love with them.
The wordings of the sealing ordinance asks whether we will live all of the other
ordinances previously performed in the temple. Unless we are prepared to live by all
those ordinances, there is no guarantee the sealing will hold.

Elder Vinson told a story of a priesthood leader who at some point, thought he
had fallen out of love with his wife. He said he prayed to be able to see his wife
as the Lord sees her and a miracle happened. He fell back in love with his wife.

Elder Vinson told a story of a woman who struggled with recognizing the good
in her husband. She prayed with all the energy of heart and decided to change
herself. She started to look for the good in him rather than all the wrong
things. One day, she suddenly felt intense love for him and recognized him as
his eternal companion.

In marriage, we should focus more on the positives rather than the negatives. As much
as some divorces are inevitable due to issues such as abuse, most times divorces occur
when they should not. We should look for the positive and feel the good in our
spouse and remember the covenants we have made.