The adversary works on you constantly, trying to convince you that you are unhappy. Your marriage and your family are the areas of your life that the enemies of the Lord have their greatest success. Ironically, this is where your fortifications are the weakest. The most ironic thing of all is that you were given the power to stop the attack and damage, anytime you want. Being happy is a decision of the will. It has very little to do with the facts. There is simply no other way to explain why people in miserable circumstances can be happy and people in bountiful circumstances can be sad.

This does not mean that in your marriage you should "just decide" to be happy with an abusive or an evil companion or someone who chooses to be a drone. But neither does it mean that two people who are basically good people, trying to do the right thing but seeming to have "tons" of problems, should get a divorce. Remember this; divorce quite often creates more problems than it solves. I bear testimony that two people who are basically good people and who once fell in love can stay in love. And when they have learned the secrets to having a happy marriage, their honeymoon will not be the climax of their happiness, it will just be the beginning. The secret ...is learning the secrets.

The biggest mistake married couples make is once they are married, they stop treating each other as boyfriend/girlfriend. Most people who own their own business or have good jobs, would not consider for a minute, treating their customers or their employer as they treat their spouse or family. If you want to be as happy as you were in your dating, treat each other as you did when you were dating. Zig Ziglar called it, "the sell ...after the sell." Remember that every action comes with it’s consequence. Success and failure both have their recipes, ...and the choice is always yours.

You cannot have a magnificent marriage any easier than you can have a magnificent anything else. Any masterpiece created by your hands takes work and commitment. And unlike an object that can be finished, your marriage is a growing thing. Like a prize garden, it takes constant work or the weeds and the diseases take over. A happy marriage is the greatest thing on earth. But only if two good people decide to make it so. Become friends–best friends with your marriage partner. Take interest in what the other does and needs. Take interest in your children. Don’t just be their father or mother or provider or disciplinarian, ...be their friend. Your family is all you really have anyway. The more I learn about our Heavenly Father, the more I want to be like Him. The more I want to be like Him, the more I love my family and understand what the Celestial Kingdom is all about.

The Celestial Kingdom is all about families. It’s about being married and sealed for time and all eternity to those you love. It’s all about married couples, living "happily ever after" so to speak. Satan would have you forget that. He would have you focus on "serious problems" in your marriage. If you do, you could lose your opportunity to live happily ever after as a couple. But if you will learn to be happy, if you will learn and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, your family will be where your greatest joy lies ...and you will want what the Celestial Kingdom has to offer.

                                                                   Samuel    www.LDSCOPS.com

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