Defending Marriage with Charity

The topic this week is one I have struggled with in the past. I absolutely believe in God's definition of marriage. My struggle is how do we defend these truths without coming off as hateful. I am surrounded by people who accept and defend same sex marriage and even have several friends that have been married to someone of the same sex. I love all of these people. I've struggled with how to be a defender of marriage and still be loving and charitable to those I love. 

One of my spiritual gifts is love. I love people no matter their situation or circumstance. I don't judge people for their choices. I just love them. I just worry that those I truly love won't feel loved if I don't accept their lifestyle as "right". This won't stop me from being a defender of marriage, but it is something I think about. 

I find great comfort in words of Thomas S. Monson. In April 2014, he gave a talk called, 'Be Strong and of a Good Courage'. He says, " We live in a world where moral values have, in great measure, been tossed aside, where sin is flagrantly on display, and where temptations to stray from the strait and narrow path surround us. We are faced with persistent pressures and insidious influences tearing down what is decent and attempting to substitute the shallow philosophies and practices of a secular society. Because of these and other challenges, decisions are constantly before us which can determine our destiny. In order for us to make the correct decisions, courage is needed....the courage to do the right thing because it is right." 

We can see this corruptness in our world everyday. It is so clear. Many of my friends have left the church because of philosophies of men such as same sex marriage. It is critical for us to defend marriage and not be swayed. We must be strong and of a good courage. I know if we defend the right, Heavenly Father will bless us. Ultimately the only opinion that should matter to us is our Heavenly Father's. We should always be kind and loving, but we should never stop defending the right. 

Preserving the Family

President Kimball said, “Only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.” He spoke these words in 1980. As we’ve seen the decline of society and Satan’s attacks on the family, we understand how prophetic this warning was. In 1980, there were no cell phones, or internet, or pornography at the fingertips. Satan has worked hard to use all these seemingly good inventions to his advantage. All we need to do is turn on our TV, listen to the radio, or open any social media platform and we can see the attacks on the family. Satan understands how essential the family is to Heavenly Father’s plan. He is working hard to break this institution down. If we understand how essential the family is, we will be working harder to preserve it.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World says that “…family is CENTRAL to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”  Everything we do in the church is to prepare us for and help us build eternal families. Satan knows this, and we need to know it too.

We don’t need to fear Satan’s attacks. We just need to be prepared for them. The scriptures teach us that if we are prepared, we shall not fear. We can withstand these attacks and protect our families by keeping our baptismal covenants and being worthy of the Spirit. I cannot imagine fighting Satan’s attacks without the Holy Ghost with me. What a tremendous blessing we have been given, as young as 8 years old, to fight the adversary. We are also blessed by the gift of the Atonement. Jesus Christ knows what we are feeling and understands our struggles. We need to turn to Him and plead for help from a loving Father in Heaven. They are here for us, and they are our constant cheerleaders.

Our families can become strong by faithfully and consistently studying the scriptures. Bringing the Spirit into our homes through scripture study can be very powerful. Prayer is also powerful, personal and family. Family prayers bring us close together and help us feel bonded to each other. Husbands and wives should make sure to include the Lord in their marriage. Satan is watching for any and all cracks in a marriage, so he can jump in and destroy it. Remaining humble and repentant is critical to maintaining a strong, healthy marriage and family.  The Nephites were destroyed by pride in the Book of Mormon. The same can happen to our families if we aren’t careful.

We, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also need to be defenders of the family. We need to be aware of world issues affecting the family, vote to preserve family values, and be defenders of our faith. I am confident we can do all these things when we have the Holy Ghost with us. We should be careful to keep the commandments and follow our Savior, so we can be worthy of this great protection.