Charity in Marriage

This week in our readings we learned about charity and the importance of this specific attribute in our marriages. Moroni, a Book of Mormon prophet, teaches us that “if [we] have not charity, [we] are nothing” (Moroni 7:44). We can have faith, be meek and lowly, be humble, be hopeful, be forgiving, etc. but if we do not have charity then we are nothing.

In verse 46 of that same chapter, we are promised, “Charity never faileth.” Wow! Imagine if we applied this in our relationships and in our marriages. If we were to have charity in our marriage, the chances of it failing drop drastically. And why is that?

Because charity is the pure love of Christ.

If we take verse 45 and replace “Christ” with where it references “charity” we would find, “Christ suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not [his] own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in inquitiy but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things…cleave unto Christ, for all things must fail – but Christ…endureth forever and whoso is found possessed of [Him] at the last day, it shall be well with him.”

If we are to be Christ like and develop charity then we can possess all of these attributes, especially in regards to our spouse. We will suffer long with and for them, we will be kind, we will not envy, we won’t be puffed up or prideful, and we won’t be selfish. No matter what our spouse may do, we won’t be easily provoked nor will we think evil of them. We will rejoice in the truth and truly live, “it does not matter who is right but what is right.” With charity, we will bear all the burdens that come to us in marriage, we will believe our spouses and believe in the covenants we made with them and Heavenly Father, we can have hope in those promises and ultimately, we will be able to endure to the end to reach exaltation, which is only possible with our eternal companion.

Please see the story of John and Annie Glenn for a tender story about charity in marriage.

In what ways have you expressed charity to your spouse and loved ones? How can you change your heart to be a better wife/husband and friend?