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Show ' THE ADVANTAGE OF TEMPLE MARRIAGE By W. M. Everton Few if any of the commandments of God pertain solely to the next world. There is nearly always a reflex action. We are told that those who are tithed shall not burn in the day of judgment. That, however, is' not the only blessing to come from the payment of tithing. The man who pays tithing is a different man, with more faith, more confidence, and more energy than he otherwise would have. It is said that Abe Lincoln spent some time each day behind be-hind locked doors praying to God for help in carrying on the war. It may be that his prayers did influence the war in some way, we cannot say as to that, but we are sure that an hour of prayer each day for four years made a great difference in Mr. Lincoln. His attempt at-tempt to live each day so that he might pray more effectively the next day caused men all over the world to love and honor him. It is just so with temple marriage or marriage for time and eternity. Marriages performed in the temples by the authority of the Holy Priesthood are to be preferred to the ordinary civil marriages mar-riages because they do not end with the death of the parties who are married. Couples who are married in the temple, if they live righteous lives, will receive blessings in the next world which they could not possibly receive without such a marriage. Those who are sealed for time and eternity do not have to wait, however, until they are dead to start to reap the blessings from this holy ordinance. Such a marriage has a stabilizing effect on the lives of both man and wife. This produces a low divorce rate which we shall discuss later. It may be said that such a marriage changes the attitude of people toward life, something like buying a home changes the attitude atti-tude of families toward the house in which they live. So long as they are renting they are always thinking of the time when they will move. There is no planning for anything permanent about the house. Price and not quality is their guide when they buy for the home. With persons married for time only, there is no longtime long-time planning, no thought of building a family here which they will have hereafter. In other words, they are just renters and in a very short time their lease will be up, their marriage will be over, their family will cease to be theirs and naturally they will not think and plan and pray and prepare by righteous living to be worthy and able to carry on in the next world. Thinking and planning and praying and living righteously are the things that make men happy, they are also the things that make men better citizens. Marriage in the i temple helps men to go in the right direction. |
