In an October 1996, LDS General Conference talk by Elder Bruce C. Hafen he talks of the 3 big bad wolves that can test a marriage. In the world today marriage and family is under attack. There are 3 areas in which Elder Hafen counsels us to watch for as these wolves want to destroy our family.
The first wolf he talks about is natural adversity.
What is natural adversity? It is what happens in this mortal world we live in. Spouses or children getting sick, death of a loved one, your home being destroyed by natural causes, losing employment , and the list could go on.
I can think of many times in my marriage that natural adversity has come to play. We've had house fires, floods, forest fires, children really sick, grandchildren really sick, business not doing so good,
The second wolf he talks about is the test of our own imperfections.
No one of us is perfect. One spouse should not degrade the other for whatever reason. We are to lift each other up. Be kind, considerate and loving. Their will be disagreements, but it's how you handle those that will make the difference. No one likes to be put down or belittled.
Not only the imperfections of the spouses can effect the marriage , but the imperfections of the children. Many times our children can come between a husband and wife in how we decide to raise and discipline.
The third wolf he talks about it the excessive individualism that has spawned today's contractual attitudes. He explains this best. "A seven year old girl came home from school crying. "Mom, don't I belong to you? Our teacher said today that nobody belongs to anybody - children don't belong to parents, husbands don't belong to wives. I am yours, aren't I, Mom?" Her mother held her close and whispered, "Of course your'e mine - and I'm yours, too." Then he goes on to say "Surely marriage partners must respect one another's individual identity, and family members are neither slave nor inanimate objects. But this teacher's fear, shared today by many, is that the bonds of kinship and marriage are not valuable ties that bind, but are instead, sheer bondage.
A marriage should be one of partnership, where each spouse is willing to give 100 % and not expect anything in return.
Marriage is not easy. But, it is something worth working at. Be watchful of the adversary who wants to destroy the covenant marriage between you and your spouse.
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