Love Works Miracles

There was a young newlywed couple that had their first quarrel fairly early in the marriage. They decided that to avoid unhappiness like this in the future, they would each write down all the faults of the other in the next month, and then would quietly discuss the lists together. At the end of the month, the wife presented her list to her husband. It was two or three pages long and he listened as she went through it point by point. After she finished, she asked him for his list. He said nothing, just quietly handed her a single piece of paper. To her surprise and embarrassment, she found only one line on that paper, which simply read: "I have decided that I love you too much to ever look for any faults you might have."

There was silence, tears, and a tender embrace. The simple statement he had written went a long way in setting the tone for their life together from that point forward.

I heard this story some years ago, and used it in a lesson in our ward in Las Vegas. A friend in that ward just happened to know this couple well. She says they are a remarkable example of love, patience, kindness and have the happiest marriage she has ever seen. The wife was humbled by the lesson she learned early in the marriage and clearly took the lesson to heart.

This is something I need to work a little harder on -- loving instead of judging and criticizing, patience instead of crankiness, a soft answer instead of snapping back a harsh retort. This could be a good lesson for all of us, whether in a marriage or simply in friendships and in life. My mom had a saying that I used to hate hearing, but it makes good sense here -- "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Kind of like "I love you too much to look at your faults."

Love works miracles.