Week 9 - “Consecration as everything to do with marriage.”


         Consecration is the perfect form of service and commitment to God and others. Jesus gave the perfect example of consecration when he sacrificed His will in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36).
         In chapter six of Goddard's book we were taught beautifully about the importance of living the law of consecration inside our homes. “The law of consecration is a celestial law, not an economic experiment” (Goddard, 93), “we are invited to dedicate our lives, our talents, … , and our weaknesses to the sacred enterprise of sanctifying our marriages and ultimately perfecting our souls” (Goddard, 98).
         With this in context, and although I agree in great part with Dr. Gottman approach to resolve marital problems (chapters 7 and 8), I believe that with Christ we have the power to overcome all marital problems, including those that he consider to be perpetual. Yet, his conclusions based upon many years of research open the consent to behaviors that could be easily consider as “consecration attributes”. For example, he explained that “men who allowed their wives to influence them had happier relationships and were less likely to eventually divorce than men who resisted their wives influence” and that “intelligent husbands” know how to transmit honor and respect. (Gottman, chapter 7).
         More interesting was the fact that Gottman arrived at the same conclusion as Elder Maxwell did. Both agree that it is crucial both for an individual and for a marriage that “consecration”, or as put it by Gottman, “accepting the influence” is the only “surrender which is also a victory.”

         In conclusion, it is by qualifying ourselves to the transforming power of Christ atonement, and changing our natural man, and developing our character that we can truly began to build an eternal and consecrated marriage. Developing effective techniques to resolve marital problems, as so well explained by Gottman, such as identifying the type problem and work to resolve with proper mind and communication skills are key elements that combined with a correct understanding of marriage in God’s plan could blessed our lives. 

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