Life is Sacred: God's Eternal Plan and Why Life is Sacred

Life is sacred in God's eternal plan. How mortal life begins, continues and ends is sacred. The divine means by which God has provided that mortal life should begin is though the instrumentality of a husband and wife who have made a legal covenant of marriage.

Life is Sacred--The prophet and apostles' proclamation

The prophet and apostles have made a definitive statement that life is sacred and the means by which new life begins is sacred:

“Physical intimacy between a husband and a wife is divinely intended a beautiful expression of love that is to be enjoyed exclusively by a married couple. The counsel of prophets is, and always has been, sexual abstinence before marriage, and complete fidelity after marriage.” 1

Life is sacred and physical intimacy is sacred

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle, added the following concerning the sacred nature of life and how it begins:

Thus physical intimacy “demands special sanctity. Such an act of love between a man and a woman is--or certainly was ordained to be--a symbol of total union: union of their hearts, their hopes, their lives, their love, their family, their future, their everything…But such a total, virtually unbreakable union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant….” 2

New and sacred life comes from a covenant marriage

From such a loving union of a married husband and wife, life is divinely intended to spring forth. Each life is sacred to Heavenly Father, for it was he who declared, “The worth of souls is great in the sight of God,” and that which will result in the most joy is bringing “souls unto me.” 3

The opposite is also true. Latter-day prophets have denounced practices that lead to birth outside the marriage covenant or the taking of life while it is developing in the womb: “Thou shalt not…kill, nor do anything like unto it.” 4

'Life is Sacred'--the prophets' words

“We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.” 5

Questions about 'Life is Sacred: God's Eternal Plan and Why Life is Sacred'

• Because life is sacred in God's eternal plan, how mortal life begins, continues and ends is also sacred. By what sacred means should life begin?



• God has decreed that sacred life should begin by means of physical intimacy between a married husband and wife. What is the prophets' counsel regarding sexual relations before an after marriage?



• How does Elder Holland describe the sacred nature of life and God's expectations regarding couples?



• Is there any greater worth to God than a new sacred life? Can there be any greater happiness to a married husband and wife than bringing souls unto God?



• What practives have God's prophets denounced?



• What have the prophet and apostles said about "the means by which mortal life is created" and the sacred nature of life?

References for 'Life is Sacred: God's Eternal Plan and Why Life is Sacred'

1. Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p.49
2. "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments," Jeffrey R. Holland, January 12, 1988
3. D&C 18:10, 16
4. D&C 59:6
5. The Family: A Proclamation to the World