Yikes.
I'm talking about marriage here. How does the Unbreakable Vow Snape makes to watch over Draco have anything to do with marriage?
The joining of two families is one of the most joyous occasions, but more significantly, the vows a husband and wife make to one another: to have, to hold, till death do us part, or in the case of Latter-day Saints, through death we live on. Think about the promises spouses make to one another at the ceremony, whether it be bluntly spoken or received from the general message. The first that comes to mind is fidelity.
Think of the words again: "to have and to hold". The husband is the wife's. The wife is the husband's. No one else, romantically, is to have or hold either spouse except for their partner to whom they are legally and lawfully wedded. Naturally, from hearing this phrase a plethora of times in reality or fiction, it should be ingrained into the minds of men and women alike. Well, if that's the case, then why is infidelity such a major problem?
Let's take a few steps back to Harry Potter and relate it to marriage and infidelity.
Snape promises Narcissa that he will keep Draco out of harm's way--no matter the cost. If Snape fails to perform his duty to help Draco, he will be taken by Death.
What about marriage?
Both the husband and the wife vow to love each other no matter the circumstance. Thus we see, at the altar, husbands and wives vow to keep each other safe from...heartbreak.
Infidelity is a sin: an awful sin. From the words of past and present apostles and prophets as well as the Savior himself, it has been taught that when we sin, we suffer a spiritual death, or in other words, we move further away from God, until godly sorrow kicks in and we can work on reviving our spirits to be in alignment with the Lord's will.
It's quite frightening how infidelity happens.How does it begin?
Well, lying is probably the easiest and most natural sin. There isn't anyone in this universe who has not said a little, white lie to get out of trouble. The problem lies in the complacency that tags along this seemingly innocent hiccup in the human persona. Lying can be so natural sometimes.
Along with lying comes hiding and cover-ups.
I remember as a young girl, I had my friend over. As we played in my bedroom we, somehow, got a hold of a pair of scissors. What happened next is so typical of children: we started to cut each other's hair. As naive, little kids, we proceeded to stuff the hair into my mattress in an effort to cover up what had happened. Although our haircuts were tragically hideous, we thought if we could hide the evidence, our parents wouldn't suspect a thing.
Let's just say it was a very long time before my friend came over again.
As we grow older, the instinct to lie about topics of more importance become easier to let out. Teenagers begin to lie to their parents about who they're with, where they were, and what they were doing. The pattern of deception becomes more and more prevalent among rebellious teens.
What's worse is, when boys and girls see that this works, it becomes easier to move to even more complicated things: juggling two romantic relationships at a time. Oh, they just couldn't choose who they liked more so they chose to have both and pray that they keep it a secret.
Cheating is a result of, not only being complacent with the way things turn out by lying, but also greed and letting one's guard down.
Lying, pride, and the failure to protect oneself are the three most common weaknesses among people.
They truly are ingrained in our beings, but that doesn't mean we cannot overcome them.
God gives us weaknesses, but does not tell us it's okay to give in; he does not tell us to stop trying to overcome them.
Satan does not give us weakness, but does tell us it's okay to give in, to give up, to do what will bring us, not happiness, but satisfaction.
The tactics of the adversary are destructive. Sadly, so many people are using these tactics today to tell people it's okay to do what you want, that there is no harm in succumbing to the natural man.
There are dating websites specifically for cheating. There are churches that say, "Do what you want, as long as you accept Christ." There are even people who rile up those who are struggling with their faith and say, " God's not real, therefore, sin is not."
These examples remind me of some of the antichrists written about in The Book of Mormon.
Korihor was a man among the people of Nephi who wanted recognition. He concocted opposing views than that of Alma's toward the gospel of Christ, toward Christ himself. He was convincing to the people, saying that there would never be a Christ, therefore there is no law, and there is no sin. That sounded pretty good to his audience, supposing that sinful lifestyles seemed far more glamorous than the righteous. The end of Korihor's life resulted in him telling Alma to prove that God exists. He was struck dumb and ultimately died, not only a spiritual death, but physical.
The gospel is real.
Laws are real.
Consequences are real.
Married, or dating, infidelity does not lack consequence.
Commitments should not be taken lightly, although, the adversary says that it is quite alright to think that relationships are not as important as God says they are.
God says one thing.
Satan says another.
The way to recognize God's hand, is spiritual peace and eternal joy.
The way to recognize Satan's hand, is spiritual despair and temporary satisfaction.
Fidelity follows God's hand.
Infidelity follows Satan's.
Although lying, cheating, and stealing are ingrained into the minds of people, we do not need to succumb to the temptations.
Make the unbreakable vow.
Keep it.
Do not suffer spiritual death because of a little bit of satisfaction.
Stay true, and God be with you.
