All Your Heart Love
A few weeks ago my wife had a week of training in Salt Lake City. It was the longest we have been apart in our 30 years of marriage. Frankly I missed her terribly and wondered if my love for her was bordering on the level of sin, seeing we are to “love the Lord with all of our hearts.” As I was pondering this dilemma I ran across this Scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants section 42 verse 22 which says, “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.”
As the search continued for answers some great comments on this very subject were found in the Doctrine and Covenants Institute Manual. Here is what it says:
“Only two commandments in all the scriptures require us to love with all our heart. We are commanded to love God with all our heart (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37), and we are commanded to love our spouse with all our heart. Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained the all-encompassing nature of this commandment:
“When the Lord says all thy heart, it allows for no sharing nor dividing nor depriving. And, to the woman it is paraphrased: ‘Thou shalt love thy husband with all thy heart and shalt cleave unto him and none else.’
“The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes preeminent in the life of the husband or wife, and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse. We sometimes find women who absorb and hover over the children at the expense of the husband, sometimes even estranging them from him.
“The Lord says to them: ‘Thou shalt cleave unto him and none else.’
“Marriage presupposes total allegiance and total fidelity. Each spouse takes the partner with the understanding that he or she gives totally to the spouse all the heart, strength, loyalty, honor, and affection, with all dignity. Any divergence is sin; any sharing of the heart is transgression. As we should have ‘an eye single to the glory of God,’ so should we have an eye, an ear, a heart single to the marriage and the spouse and family.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 142–43.)
As the search continued for answers some great comments on this very subject were found in the Doctrine and Covenants Institute Manual. Here is what it says:
“Only two commandments in all the scriptures require us to love with all our heart. We are commanded to love God with all our heart (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37), and we are commanded to love our spouse with all our heart. Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained the all-encompassing nature of this commandment:
“When the Lord says all thy heart, it allows for no sharing nor dividing nor depriving. And, to the woman it is paraphrased: ‘Thou shalt love thy husband with all thy heart and shalt cleave unto him and none else.’
“The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes preeminent in the life of the husband or wife, and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse. We sometimes find women who absorb and hover over the children at the expense of the husband, sometimes even estranging them from him.
“The Lord says to them: ‘Thou shalt cleave unto him and none else.’
“Marriage presupposes total allegiance and total fidelity. Each spouse takes the partner with the understanding that he or she gives totally to the spouse all the heart, strength, loyalty, honor, and affection, with all dignity. Any divergence is sin; any sharing of the heart is transgression. As we should have ‘an eye single to the glory of God,’ so should we have an eye, an ear, a heart single to the marriage and the spouse and family.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 142–43.)
web link: http://lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-41-49/section-42-the-law-of-the-lord.p34,p35,p36,p37,p38?lang=eng
Even after over 30 years of marriage there is still much to learn.
I hope it doesn't take an eternity to figure it out!
Even after over 30 years of marriage there is still much to learn.
I hope it doesn't take an eternity to figure it out!
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