Couples Therapy in a Divine Sense

Have you ever been reading your scriptures and something completely unrelated pops into your head? I was reading the other day (I can't even remember what I was reading) and the following just barged right in:

Think about your relationship with your spouse. You love him. You trust him. You feel a need for him, and he has a need for you. How did you build this relationship? If you're like me, you spent a lot of time together. You talk to each other about things that matter to you. He knows your secrets--good and bad. You have fun together and find joy in each other. When you need help with something, you call him, because you know that he will try to help you. He earned that trust because you gave him oppurtunities to prove himself trustworthy. You let him serve you.

The Lord often refers to Himself as the Bridegroom and Israel as the Bride. If you consider that when Israel is referred to, the Lord isn't just talking to Israel as a whole, but to each of her children individually, then you can see, for the sake of metaphor, how you, personally, are the Bride of Christ. So then, what can you do to build your relationship with Christ?

• How can you spend more time with Him?
• How can you take time to talk to Him about things that matter to you?
• How can you listen to Him better?
• How can you confide in Him more?
• How can you find joy in Him?
• How can you give Him oppurtunities to prove He keeps His promises, that He loves you, and that He can be relied on?

Building a relationship with Christ is the same as building a relationship with anyone else; it takes a lot of effort. And like any relationship that you feel has gone south, all you can do is change yourself. The good news with Christ is that, unlike some spouses, he wants to work on the relationship too. He's waiting for you. It takes time, it takes patience, and it takes faith, but I know if you try He will more than meet you half way.

I really felt like this was a message I was meant to share, and couldn't think of a way to do that until yesterday. So, I have recorded it for myself (and now that I've written it down I will remember it more often) and let it out there. Thanks for indulging me.