Threats to Marriage

There have been soo many changes in the world just within the past 10 years or so. Growing up, I have always been taught that a man and I woman should be married. In my life time I have seen gays be rejected and also accepted. It wasn’t too long ago when same sexes could get married legally when before it wasn’t accepted. I’ve seen others The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have also changed their views and stance on gays. Gays are no longer seen as apostate and can continue being a member of the church. Before the change, they weren’t allowed in. This made a lot of gays in the church scared and it caused a lot of problems and hate towards the church. 

I have a friend who was a member of the Church who came out gay not too long ago. He and his boyfriend are currently buying a house together and are very successful. Does this change my views on gays? No it doesn’t. Whether I am for gays are against them, I am not sure. What I do know is that I am a Christian I am trying my best to love everyone even if they have very different views. I know that people have their agency to choose for themselves on how they want to live. If my friend and his boyfriend get marriage eventually, I plan on attending because he’s been my friend since before the 3rd grade and has been my neighbor for as long as I can remember. Just because my views are different, doesn’t mean I can’t go out and support one of my best friends and watch him get married to someone he loves and someone who treats him with respect. My friend also knows my stance on marriage. He knows that I believe in a man and a woman getting married and that it should not be any other way besides that but he has respected my views because I respect his views.

When it comes to defending marriage and what is right, I will always stand up for what I believe to be right. I know that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that is how it should be. This doesn’t mean that I hate those that won’t or don’t believe me but I will still stand for what I believe in. 

Divorce

I have been extremely blessed to have been raised in such a strong area. Most of the people where I am from are related to me in some type of way. And the area that I grew up in keeps growing because people go off to get married and then move right back home. Unfortunately, growing up in a strong family hasn’t been the case for one of my good friends growing up. So far, he has seen his mother go through two divorces. One was when he was 5 and the other was when he was out on his mission. Although his other siblings are all happily married, it is still hard to see a mother go through a divorce. Even when we were 5 we still asked where his dad was at all the time. I don’t know all the details nor do I tend to ask for details but we assumed that it was over some money issues and those kind of issues are very hard to deal with. 

Money is one of the main causes of divorce. There are so many problems that can go wrong with money. If you don’t have enough money in the family, it is very easy to blame the other person which causes contention and hatred. You could be married to someone who has a gambling problem. Your spouse my just have a spending problem. Both husband and wife can go through a crisis where you need money but it’s not there so one leaves. There are so many problems that can happen when there is money involved. 

Since I was raised in the church, I was always taught to pay tithing first. I personally have seen so many blessings in my life just because I paid tithing. But tithing isn’t the only thing that can help prevent divorce. Both spouses have to agree on what is being bought and how the money should be spent.  A lot of trouble can be avoided if there is communicating and loyalty. 

Lastly, Elder Oaks is an amazing person. “In a marriage relationship, festering is destructive; forgiving is divine.” I really like this quote from him because it is true. Just because you are married doesn’t mean that all problems will be stopped It is a constant effort on both parts to keep the marriage healthy and strong.