Cherishing Your Spouse

            The relationship between husband and wife is the most sacred and important relationship (second to Heavenly Father/Christ) that you can have in your life. Oftentimes we fall into this trap of accentuating the negative qualities of our spouse and we focus on how we feel and there is this frustration over our spouse seeing things from our perspective. By instead taking the time to really see things from our significant other’s point of view and getting outside of ourselves we can really start to appreciate our spouse. I know that some ideas that friends of mine have had over the years within their relationships is they will make positive journals and every night they will write down a couple of positive things their spouse did that day. I really liked that idea because it is focusing more on the positive than the negative. Other things is fasting and praying for your spouse, I know that a lot of my friends will be going through challenges with their marriage and when they take the time to pray for their spouse they receive inspiration and are able to see their spouse the way that our Father in Heaven sees them, which in turn strengthens the marriage and gives an eternal perspective. Another great thing is praying and going to the temple together as a couple. Being able to remember why a couple is going through challenges and working hard to remain strong as a couple, really helps to appreciate and cherish your spouse. Henry B Eyring has said:

…”The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love. The ideal God holds for us is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow. A man and a woman are to make sacred covenants that they will put the welfare and happiness of the other at the center of their lives.”

Sources:

President Henry B. Eyring, "Our perfect example.” Ensign, November 2009, 70.