The Law of Consecration

In the book "Drawing Heaven into your Marriage", Goddard shares many times that he wishes he had realized many of these principles and lessons earlier in his marriage. I really appreciate the lessons I am learning from his examples. In chapter 6 (page 100), he shares that

"It is common for discontented partners to lament, "I just can't tolerate the loneliness in this marriage. I must get out in order to thrive.""

and

"I think that is how Jesus felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Is there any way out? I don't think I can bear it!" Yet He did bear it. And in bearing it, He saved us. Had He not honored His covenant over His peace and comfort, all of us would be everlastingly lost."

I feel like this is all too common in marriage, including mine, where life gets chaotic and you just don’t know how you will make it through. I know without a doubt that it is worth it to stick it out, hand everything over to God and everything will be okay. I think about our children and the children that wouldn’t be here had we decided to call it quits after our first big fight and I can hardly stand the thought. Their lives matter and my marriage matters. Life isn’t always easy and marriage is hard work, but keeping that eternal perspective makes it all worth it. I love the quote on page 101 from Brother Kent Brooks that reminds us to “persevere through moments of unhappiness, stress, disappointment and tests of our patience and love for our partners.” We are not promised perfect, unflawed, easy marriages, but we are promised eternal glory by following Christ’s example, following the commandments and practicing consecration in our marriages.  

Goddard titled a section in chapter 6 “Our Whole Souls as an Offering” which reminded me of David A. Bednar’s devotional talk from January 5, 1999 titled “Your Whole Souls as an Offering Unto Him”. He touches on being “diligent in developing strong minds to the principles of sacrifice and consecration” which is exactly what I feel that Goddard is teaching us as well. It is so important, especially in marriage, to learn these principles and make a commitment endure to the end.  

We all have faults and we will have perpetual conflicts that we will have to live with likely for the rest of our married lives. How we choose to handle and react to these though are what make our married lives either a positive or negative experience. We can CHOOSE to love and lift up our spouse, look past their faults and realize that we too have faults. Marriage is not about being perfect, but realizing that both husband and wife are perfectly imperfect and can rise up together in Christ.