One of the things I would like to highlight from this week’s study is when it refers to men and women being equal. This is one of the things that I like most about belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that although each of us has different responsibilities, one is not more important than the other, nor does one have more power than the other. Each one has its own value.
We are taught that in marriage we do not have to look for who has more power, but to live in a way where power is not important in our life or in our marriage.
In the article “Who Is the Boss? Power Relationships in Families “highlighted an interview that President Hinckley gave to a church magazine, I loved the response of President Hinckley when asked “President, you have said: “Some husbands regard it as their prerogative to compel their wives to fit their standards of what they think to be the ideal. It never works.” How have you avoided doing this with Sister Hinckley?” He answered “I’ve tried to recognize my wife’s individuality, her personality, her desires, her background, her ambitions. Let her fly. Yes, let her fly! Let her develop her own talents. Let her do things her way. Get out of her way, and marvel at what she does…If there is anything that concerns me, it is that some men try to run their wife’s life and tell her everything she ought to do. It will not work. There will not be happiness in the lives of the children nor of the parents where the man tries to run everything and control his wife. They are partners. They are companions in this great venture that we call marriage and family life” (Marjorie Pay and Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, October 2003, pp. 22, 27).
While I was reading, I thought that one of the things I love most about my husband is that he allows me to be myself, without trying to change me to the way he wants me to be. I have to admit that at the beginning of my marriage there were things that I wanted to change from my husband, however I learned over time that those things are what make him different from others, and those things help me to love him as he is.
References: Miller, R. B. (2008). Who Is the Boss? Power Relationships in Families. Brigham Young University.
My Dream Marriage 