Eternal Love and Marriage

Boyd K. Packer is a beast! In the last two days, I have listened to a couple of devotionals that he gave on the topic of marriage. When I began listening to one, Eternal Marriage, I was surprised to find out how old the devotional was. He gave the devotional back when he had just recently become a member of the twelve apostles.  In his talk, he references another devotional that he gave seven years earlier, Eternal Love, so I listened to that one as well.

There was great counsel given in both of these devotionals. Here are a few things that stood out to me:

"If you desire the inspiration of the Lord in this crucial decision, you must live the standards of the church, and you must pray constantly for the wisdom to recognize those qualities upon which a successful union may be based." - Eternal Love

"How wise is the man that does not expect perfection, but looks for potential." - Eternal Love

"There are many who teach that it is normal and expected for domestic difficulty and bickering and strife to be apart of that marriage relationship. That is false doctrine. It is neither necessary or desirable, and I know that it is possible to live together in love with never the first cross word ever passing between you." - Eternal Marriage

I know that no matter where we are in life, our ultimate focus should be this goal of a successful marriage filled with eternal love. It is possible. As Elder Packer also said,

"The ultimate end of all the activities in the church are aimed at seeing a father and a mother, a husband and a wife, and their children happy together at home." - Eternal Marriage

 It is the focus of the church, and it should be our focus as well.