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LDS Only: Obedience and Blessings
- Thread starter Katzpur
- Start date
Sola'lor
LDSUJC
I give up! Maybe I should just ask a mod to change the title of my thread to "What is the LDS Church's stand on spouse abuse and divorce?" since that's apparently what you all are in the mood to discuss.
You can't do that. If you did then we would be on topic.
FFH
Veteran Member
We make it fresh here...And you toss pizza dough.
Or does it come in frozen?????
We're all called to do different things in this life, my calling was to work with troubled teens. I see and experience first hand the devastating affects of divorce on hundreds of kids I've worked with through the years in this business.
I keep having a recurring dream that I'm on one mission after another and to keep going.
I used to work for Delta Airlines and had free airfare to anywhere in the U.S and after only a year you can travel anywhere in the world for a small fee, I hated it though.
TrueBlue2
Member
I would be very relieved if you are right Bishka. I sincerely hope that we are doing much better than 50%, and from my own life experience I believe we are. From the links you referred me to (impressive) it appears that many of the studies are much more conservative for couples who pray together, and go to church every week.
But the statistics you provide are not very clear either. In one paragraph it talks of couples married in the temple as having a 5-6% divorce rate, and then in the next paragraph it states that temple marriages only have a 13% divorce rate after 5 years. So, it appears these studies are limited to a very narrow time frame. What about over the lifespan?
Again, most of the studies I was reading in the early 90's was dealing with a national statistic of 50% (which one of your links referenced), and studies dealing only with LDS people had the figures at 45%. These studies came from highly regarded professional journals.
Still, I believe that temple marriages are doing much better than that, and I hope you're right!
TrueBlue2
Member
Ok, Katz. Here's an attempt to get back on track. It was approximately a year ago when I was shocked to hear the petitioner of a closing prayer in Sunday School tie the economic blessings of my small bedroom community to the righteous living of the Saints who live here. While I do not deny that the Lord will bless us economically, thoughts of the arrogance of the Nephites crossed my mind when I heard that. Do the saints of my small town deserve to be blessed with more riches than say the rural farmers of southern Utah?
Still, obviously, the scripture is true. When we receive any blessing from God it is by obedience to the principle on which it was predicated. But the agency of others plays a key role here. Just because we do the right things doesn't guarantee our children will make all the right choices. We may do all we can to serve the Lord, but our partner may choose to go down another path. Agency exists for all. We can't force the human mind. I hope I've made some sense...
FFH
Veteran Member
YesMiss Pur said:
I'ld like to focus on the statement in red and say, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors.
My friend always reminds me of this. We cannot judge one way or another, only God sees everything, who are we to think we know all that goes on in someone's private life.
For all we know there could be abuse lashed out from both the husband and the wife. There is no way to take sides on any marriage issue, we simply do not have all the facts.
My fathers patients would tell him everything, and of course he was never allowed to speak a word of what husbands and wives and children told him. It made him a wreck. He had a heavy burden to bare, and still does. He continues to practice to this day at age 70.
As a result of his profession he seemed to see people as they really are. He was always blunt and to the point. It kept us kids all out of serious trouble. I'm the oldest of 5 kids and we have all been married in the temple and my brothers and I have served missions.
TrueBlue2
Member
One more post on this and then I'll leave it alone. If LDS temple marriage divorce rates were really at 5-6% even our leaders would be shouting it from the pulpits. That would be fantastic! Unfortunately, they KNOW the figures aren't nearly that good, as much as we would all like them to be.
From a scholarly perspective there is a pecking order as to what sources are deemed creditable or trustworthy. The pecking order looks something like this:
Class A Professional Journals
Class B Professional Journals
Class C Professional Journals
Pop Psychology Magazines
Articles by Special Interest Groups with an Agenda
The latter two carry almost NO weight in the scholarly world. Their findings are almost always biased and non-objective. The articles referenced yesterday from the 'Net are of the latter variety.
I am not motivated enough by this topic to drive forty miles to a University and research the statistics, but to anyone who is I would highly recommend the Journal of Marriage and the Family (class A) as a reliable source. I am confident for anyone who cares to take the venture that we will find national divorce rates at 50% or higher over the lifespan, and LDS marriages slightly lower than that. If not then all those years of college studies were wasted. :sad4:
From a scholarly perspective there is a pecking order as to what sources are deemed creditable or trustworthy. The pecking order looks something like this:
Class A Professional Journals
Class B Professional Journals
Class C Professional Journals
Pop Psychology Magazines
Articles by Special Interest Groups with an Agenda
The latter two carry almost NO weight in the scholarly world. Their findings are almost always biased and non-objective. The articles referenced yesterday from the 'Net are of the latter variety.
I am not motivated enough by this topic to drive forty miles to a University and research the statistics, but to anyone who is I would highly recommend the Journal of Marriage and the Family (class A) as a reliable source. I am confident for anyone who cares to take the venture that we will find national divorce rates at 50% or higher over the lifespan, and LDS marriages slightly lower than that. If not then all those years of college studies were wasted. :sad4:
zookeeper
Member
We don't know when or how our blessing will come. We just know they will come if we are righteous. We learn this when studying the book of Job. I don't know if all of my blessings are a result of my righteousness. Maybe some of my "blessings" are a curse/test? I know one of my weaknesses is becoming complacent when things are comfortable. I really don't know everything about blessings vs. trials in this life...but your initial quote from D&C stands true for this life or the next
despi
Member
Kathryn, do you think that obedience to God's commandments brings blessings, or that obedience and faithfulness brings blessings? What exactly is meant by "There is a law"? Does that mean that the commandments are considered collectively as one, or is there one law that all blessings are predicated by?
In my life, lately anyway, it seems to me the blessings I have received have been a result of my "faith" in God....trusting and loving Him with all my heart.
Also, I'm sorry for your friends problems. I can't imagine how horrible her life must have been to have the kind of husband she had. I do believe her blessings will be great in the end for all she endured.