Cleave Unto Your Covenants

In D&C 25:13, the Lord tells Emma Smith to "cleave unto the covenants which [she had] made." In thinking about what it means to cleave unto our covenants, I wanted to explore where the word cleave is used throughout the scriptures. A search turned up 54 hits, and here are a selection of these:

• Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. (Romans 12:9)
• Ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. (Deuteronomy 4:4)
• Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else. (D&C 42:22)
• Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)
• ...exhorted them all, that...they would cleave unto the Lord. (Acts 11:23)
• But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. (Joshua 23:8)
• Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (D&C 13:4)
• Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all... (Moroni 7:46)
• Cleave unto me with all your heart. (D&C 11:19)
• They who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing. (Moroni 7:28)
• Forsake all evil and cleave unto all good. (D&C 98:11)
• Except they should cleave unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish. (Helaman 4:25)

To summarize, we are commanded in the scriptures to cleave unto five things. We must cleave unto:

1. The Lord
2. Our spouse / family
3. Our Covenants
4. Charity
5. Every good thing

What great perspective! Aligning our personal goals and priorities with these five areas pretty much sums up what it means to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.