Covenant Relationships

Since my youth I've been taught that a covenant is a promise that we make between us and the Lord. As I studied this week in Abraham 1-2, and Genesis 12-17, I gained a deeper understanding about how the covenants we make, starting with baptismal covenants, are not solely promises we make to God, but they also allow us to enter into a relationship with Him where He can teach us how to trust Him and how to live our lives with greater integrity. 

We start down the covenant path with the ordinance of baptism and we begin to learn how to be in a relationship with God. We learn that we are expected to keep the promises that we have made and we also learn to trust that God will keep His promises as we keep ours. We begin to understand the power of integrity in our lives and how living with integrity will enhance our relationship with God.

As we advance further down on the covenant path, our level of trust with God can increase in a way that we feel ready to enter into a deeper relationship with Him by accepting temple covenants. Temple covenants add another layer of responsibility and trust between us and the Lord as we strive "to be greater follower(s) of righteousness" (Abraham 1:2).

As we enter into the highest order of the Priesthood, by accepting the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, we are now prepared to enter into a relationship with a spouse. This spouse has also been walking the covenant path and learning how to have a relationship with God. As both marriage partners have moved along the covenant path, practicing trust and integrity with their Heavenly Father, their covenant paths now connect and they enter into the same kind of relationship with their spouse that they have had with their Father in Heaven-a relationship based on trust and integrity.

As marriage partners they continue down that covenant path together, and as they each continue to keep their individual baptismal and temple covenants with the Lord, their relationship with each other will be strengthened and blessed through integrity and greater trust one with another.

Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary General President has said: "A succession of small, successfully kept promises leads to integrity. This consistent practice of promise keeping is spiritual preparation...to receive the first covenant of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, wherein [we] covenant to serve God and keep His commandments. Promises and covenants are inseparable." (A Sin-Resistant Generation). I'm grateful to understand better that some  of the blessings that come from living our covenants are the blessings of greater personal integrity and trust in the Lord.