Love your wife

You work really hard to find the perfect companion for yourself. You pray and search and seek to find the right one. Then you make your choice. Then your focus needs to change. Your quest changes from finding the right companion to becoming the right companion. Your companion will have weaknesses and in the natural order of things both of your weaknesses will surface and that will give you something to work on and to work out.  But you must be careful not to make your spouse's weaknesses your focus. Paul told husbands to love their wives as Jesus loved the church, and gave himself for it. I think that means service and love and sacrifice.  It means forgiveness and going the extra mile. It means not noticing where you have strengths and your spouse has weaknesses. But instead it means having gratitude that your strengths compliment one another in your marriage. And it means being grateful for any strengths you may have so you can serve your spouse and being grateful for the opportunity to serve her.

When you entered your marriage you made promises to your  companion and covenants with God. President McKay used to say that to be trusted was more important than to be loved. By the same token, loyalty to your spouse is more important than love. Not that love is not important. Husbands are commanded to love their wives with all their heart might and strength and to cleave unto her and to none else (D&C 42:22). I've heard of men who justified breaking marriage promises by saying they didn't love their spouse any more. I say what difference does that make? Fix it. Love her. All of us have weaknesses. Certainly your spouses weaknesses aren't greater than your own. If you will work and pray to fix your own weaknesses and seek to love your spouse, you will find that in that setting your love for one another will grow and in that setting both of you will be encouraged to overcome weaknesses and become a better person.