Rescue Your Marriage!

      This week in class we were assigned to read from H. Wallace Goddard's book Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage. Goddard presents the idea that pride is a major marriage killer. Pride is like poison that slowly eats away at the bond between you and your spouse until the bond is severely weakened. Pride creates the illusion that we are better than our spouse and we are innocent when there is tension in our marriage. Goddard explained that "When we are feeling irked, annoyed, or irritated with our spouse...we are guilty of pride" (61). Although there is no such thing as a conflict-free marriage, it's interesting to think about how many fights, broken hearts, or hurt feelings could be avoided if we were more aware of pride's influence in our lives.

       When pride comes into play in our marriage, it's time to reflect and to change. Goddard does a fair job of explaining the impact of pride on marriage: "Pride is burdensome" (61). The burden of pride is burdensome not only to our spouses, but to us as well. When we are being prideful, we are thinking too much about ourselves and we need to think more about our spouses. But, how can we become less selfish?

       This is where the Savior comes into play. In our marriages, He plays two critical roles: He is our Teacher and He is our Rescuer. Christ and His gospel teach us about the dangers of pride and how to be aware of it. He is our Rescuer because our obedience allows our hearts to change and we can repent of our sins; Christ is the One who forgives us of our sins. I love how Goddard phrased this concept! He said, "without repentance, there is neither growth nor redemption" (63). If we willingly admit that we have been prideful and are willing to do what it takes to make amends, then Christ can help us! Repentance and humility are the path that allows our hearts to change and put us in the proper place to allow us to make changes. Then, the redemption Goddard was referring to means that our marriage can survive the impact of pride and can be rescued!