Do You Know Important Truths about Marriage?

            Families, communities, and nations are stronger when the importance of love, marriage, and families is understood. Wendy Watson Nelson is now the wife of Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – a man sustained by millions of people as the prophet, seer, and revelator of God. President Nelson and his wife spoke at a Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults on January 8, 2017, at Brigham Young University.

            When Sister Nelson married President Nelson, she left her profession of twenty-five years as a professor of marriage and family therapy. She took her training and experience into her new role as a second wife to man who was the father of ten children, grandfather of dozens, and great-grandfather of hundreds. As a professor and marriage therapist, she counseled thousands of couples and heard many tragic stories. She saw what worked in marriage and what did not. In speaking to the young adults, she shared four truths about love and marriage.

I’d like to share four truths I believe will not only save you unnecessary heartache but will help you to be, and to choose, a righteous spouse and then to create a happy marriage and a productive family….

Truth #1: Truths about love and marriage are brought to you by the Holy Ghost from our Heavenly Father. He decreed marriage to be an irreplaceable component of His plan of happiness. The Spirit is the messenger of these truths. I urge you to seek to understand them….

Truth #2: Personal purity is the key to true love. The more pure your thoughts and feelings, your words and actions, the greater your capacity to give and receive true love….

Truth #3: As an important part of the expression of their love, the Lord wants a husband and wife to partake of the wonders and joys of marital intimacy. Marital intimacy is ordained by God. It is commanded and commended by Him because it draws a husband and wife closer together and closer to the Lord! True marital intimacy involves the whole soul of each spouse. It is the uniting of the body and the spirit of the husband with the body and the spirit of his wife. That soulful union represents just how united a husband and wife are in all areas of their lives. They work together as partners. They pray, play, struggle, grow, and enjoy life together. They sacrifice for each other and encourage each other to be all they were born to be…. [M]arital intimacy is sacred….

Truth #4: For true marital intimacy, the Holy Ghost needs to be involved.

It is simply not possible to have the kind of intimate experiences outside of marriage that you can have within because the Spirit will not be present…. [The Holy Ghost] can purify your feelings! Therefore, anything that invites the Spirit into your life, and into the life of your spouse and your marriage, will increase your ability to experience marital intimacy…. On the other hand, anything that offends the Spirit will decrease your ability to be one with your spouse. Things such as anger, lust, unforgiveness, contention, immorality, and unrepented sin will reduce your attempt for marital intimacy to be something that is nothing more than a sexual experience….

… if you will intentionally implement these four truths, I am confident that you can build a happy marriage that will sustain and comfort you forever. A marriage that will allow you to be more than you could ever be on your own.

… marriage is one of the greatest privileges God gives to His children….

            Sister Nelson’s four truths about love and marriage can and do strengthen marriages and families. Strong families strengthen communities, and strong communities strengthen nations.