Charity

When you think of marriage, do you think of charity?

I didn't either.

But the more I thought about it,

the more I could see that your marriage is the perfect place for charity, everyday.

I love the above quote Sister Dalton,

if we view charity as a state of the heart rather than just an action we will be able to have charity in our marriages a lot easier.

Yes, you can serve your spouse, that is easy.

But what about being forgiving?

Or loving??
Caring? Comforting?

How about just listening to your spouse as they talk about their day?

While they may be actions, they aren't the large actions that we normally think of when we think of charity and serving, but if you have charity in your heart they will be just that.

Charity in a marriage can be such a strength, to the marriage as a whole as well as to you and your spouse respectably .

Elder Ashton once said, "“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down." (Ashton, 1992, pg. 19)

Christ taught us the perfect example of charity when he forgave the woman who was known for sinning (Luke 7:36-50).  He could have judged her based on her mistakes but he forgave.  We can choose to do that with our spouse.  We can forgive them of their short comings and help them to improve the things that they want to improve on.