L6 Cherish Your Partner 

Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24

A definition of cleave:  adhere strongly (pursuit of belief) becoming strongly involved with or emotionally attached to (someone).

Marriages are not easy. It is a transition of two lives becoming one. Trials and challenges will come and strong and healthy married couple will continue to cleave unto each other.

Dr. Gottman shares two principles that strengthen a marriage.

1) Enhancing Your Love Maps- Staying intimately familiar with each other’s world. Storing and updating important feelings and facts of your spouse. Intimately knowing their goals, hopes, and stressors. 

2.) Fondness and Admiration- The two most crucial elements in a rewarding and long-lasting romance.

A couple may begin dwelling on the negative or forget to date, have fun and enjoy each other’s company. They simply forget to cherish one another which is critical to keeping a sound relationship intact. Strong or struggling marriages can implement these into their marriages. They can create strong, healthy and lasting marriages by strengthening fondness and admiration for each other.

 Henry B. Eyring advice: “First, I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.” (Our Perfect Example)

Elder Joe Christensen shared this important message: “Ceaseless pinpricking,’ as President Spencer W. Kimball called it, can deflate almost any marriage. … Generally, each of us is painfully aware of our weaknesses, and we don’t need frequent reminders. Few people have ever changed for the better as a result of constant criticism or nagging. If we are not careful, some of what we offer as constructive criticism is actually destructive.”

Anyone who asked my Grandpa how he managed to stay married to his sweetheart for so long would get this reply, “we’ve never had a quarrel, we’ve never had a fight. Anything can be worked out with respect and love.” I’m sure they had bumps along the way and I’m sure they argued to some degree, but I never, ever knew of them arguing or saying an unkind word to each other. The fondness and admiration they shared were visible for others to see. They held hands everywhere, they were always complimentary to each other and they beamed every time they talked about one another.

It’s important that we don’t let negativity, annoyances and the stress of life get in the way of our marriages. Pray for your spouse and cleave unto them. Like Adam and Eve, there will be trials, but together they can be overcome.