I am sure finding your perfect match has been on every ones mind sometime or another. What does love mean to you? Isn't it interesting how the word “love” is used so much within our culture with just about everything we do? We hear the word love all the time. “I love that team”, “I love Chinese food”, while at the same time we tell those we care about that we “love” them. Something that is so sacred within relationships such as love is being used with just about everything we do, everyday.
Within the Greek language love has many different meanings. Storge is the kind of love that is found in the affection between parents and their children. We love our children no matter what they look like, what they might do. We love them no matter what they do because we love them unconditionally. Sometimes children and adults will do things that we might not agree with but we still love that person, just not their actions at times. The next meaning for love Philia, which is love between friends. This refers to a warm and close relationships that has characteristics of intimacy such as sharing, affection, and commitment. The next is Eros, which is the love between men and women. This is a sexual love; where they long to be in each others presence. The last is agape, which is a love that is independent of ones feelings for another. I was fascinated to learn the different meanings of love. Wouldn't our marriages or relationships be enriched if we could implement each of these aspects of love? I believe that if we could use each of these we would have much richer relationships.
Another topic we discussed was temple marriage. There are many temple marriages that take place, but unfortunately, there are very few that are celestial marriages. Sadly, the purpose of the sealing is often lost as years pass. The power of the sealing is being over looked too frequently. There are too many couples who are not understanding the meaning behind the sealing. When times get tough, often too many don't cling to the power that comes with the covenant of the sealing. The more we understand about the importance and significance of the sealing power, we will cherish our mates and our marriages even more.
Elder Robert D. Hales taught the importance of our sacred covenant within the temple:
"The temple endowment blessings are as essential for each of us as was our baptism. For this reason we are to prepare ourselves that we may be clean to enter the temple of God. The opportunity to enter the temple and to take upon ourselves the sacred covenants therein is one of the greatest blessings available to us in mortality. After we take upon us those sacred covenants, our obedience in living those covenants on a daily basis stands as a demonstration of our faith, love, devotion, and spiritual commitment to honor our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our obedience also prepares us to live with Them in the eternities. The temple’s saving ordinances are essential to—and even the central focus of—the eternal plan of happiness."
Getting married in the temple is something that should not be taken lightly. This is one of the most important ordinances that we have the opportunity to achieve here in this mortal life. Wouldn't we want to do all we can to understand just how important our convents are and the responsibilities that come with them? Just because we get married in the temple doesn't me we automatically reach celestial glory, rather it is daily striving to live up to our covenants and to keep them sacred.
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