An Eternal Perspective

Earlier this week while driving on a country road I noticed the message board in front of a small Christian church.  It said, “A happy marriage is two people who are really good at forgiving.”  Isn’t that the truth?  We all need to be really good at forgiving every day.  Having faith in Jesus Christ will help us be able to do this.

In his book Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage, H. Wallace Goddard recounts the experience of Jesus casting out an evil spirit from a young boy.  After the boy’s father implores Jesus to heal his possessed child, Jesus told the father, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). 

Dr. Goddard says, “The question is not whether Jesus is able to heal. The question is whether we believe in Him.” I love the response from the father of the boy when asked by Jesus if he could believe.  The father cried, “Lord, I believe; help though mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).  Through faith and belief in Jesus each of us can be healed and be better people.

Many years ago I allowed myself to become angry and worked up over a financial decision in our marriage. I knew I was wrong to be angry, but I couldn’t let go of my evil feelings. I knew that I had to let go of those hard feelings, but I was having such a difficult time doing so.  I struggled to find peace.  I prayed for help to get over this and to be able to forgive. Finally the thought came to me, “Is this amount of money really worth all the anger?  Isn’t your marriage more important than this?”

That was the answer I needed. Yes, I thought, my marriage is much more important than any amount of money.  I needed to repent of my anger.  I needed to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to heal my angry heart. Only when I allowed the Savior to help me become a better person was I able to let go of those evil thoughts.  Faith in my Savior did heal me and I was able to completely forgive.

I am human, and so is my husband. We will make mistakes, and take offense, and have struggles. We must continue to have faith in Jesus Christ and rely on Him to strengthen our marriage.  If we believe and let Him, He will.  When I needed help letting go of anger and frustration the Lord gave me the necessary strength to do so.  I must always rely on the Savior to heal and help me in my efforts to be a better spouse and to have an eternal perspective at all times.