What Is the Ideal Marriage and Family Life?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 49-50 in a lesson titled “That Which Is of God Is Light.” The lesson was introduced by the following statement: 

The Savior is our “good shepherd” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:44). He knows that sometimes sheep wander and the wilderness has many perils. So He lovingly leads us to the safety of His doctrine. He leads us away from dangers such as “false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:2). Following Him often means letting go of incorrect ideas or traditions. This was true for Leman Copley and others in Ohio. They had accepted the restored gospel but still held on to some beliefs that just weren’t correct. In Doctrine and Covenants 49, the Lord declared truths that corrected Leman’s previous beliefs about topics such as marriage and the Savior’s Second Coming. And when the Ohio converts “received … spirits which [they] could not understand,” the Lord taught them how to discern true manifestations of the Spirit (Doctrine and Covenants 50:15). The Good Shepherd is patient with us, His “little children,” who “must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:40).

The scripture block contained the following principles: (1) Jesus Christ wants me to embrace the truths of His gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 49; 50:24), (2) Marriage between man and woman is essential to God’s plan (Doctrine and Covenants 49:15-17, (3) The Lord’s teachings can protect me from Satan’s deceptions (Doctrine and Covenants 50), (4) Teachers and learners are edified together by the Spirit (Doctrine and Covenants 50:13-24), and (5) “That which is of God is light” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:23-25). This essay will discuss principle #2 about marriage.

Principle #2 states that marriage between man and woman is essential to God’s plan (Doctrine and Covenants 49:15-17). The applicable scripture verses are as follows.

15 And again, verily I say unto you, that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man.

16 Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation.

17 And that it might be filled with the measure of man, according to his creation before the world was made.

In an effort to undermine Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness for His spirit children, Satan seeks to create confusion about marriage. The Lord, on the other hand, continues to reveal truth about marriage through His prophets. Important truths about marriage are as follows.

1. Marriage is ordained of God unto man. (D&C 49:15).

2. Man should have one wife, and they should become one flesh (D&C 49:16).

3. Woman was made as a help meet for man (Genesis 2:20, 22).

4. Man should leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).

5. The man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man (1 Cor. 11:11).

6. “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God” (Family Proclamation).

7. “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children” (Family Proclamation).

8. “Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan” (Family Proclamation).

Elder Ulisses Soares taught that “the restored gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims the principle of full partnership between woman and man, both in mortal life and in the eternities” (“In Partnership with the Lord,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 42). 

Here is a link to a video of President Henry B. Eyring speaking about the “Renaissance of Marriage” at a gathering in the Vatican. 

Happy marriage and family life are the ideal in the gospel of Jesus Christ toward which most members work. However, we don’t all get to enjoy such blessings in mortal life. People live in a variety of individual and family circumstances, so we should be sensitive in discussing ideal marriage and family life. However, the ideal is something that we can all work toward.