"A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God."
One family member of ours has the words "until death" engraved on the inside of his wedding band. Laurel and I have joked about this repeatedly saying things like "until you die" and other heart-warming affirmations. But "until death" is what we all pledge when we get married. We are bound, and nothing should break that bond (except death).
I suppose that some people might look at such an arrangement and believe it to be to restrictive. It's true that before you enter the marriage, you should carefully consider the life-long commitment that you are making with seriousness, care, and sobriety. But after you are married, you should treat this bond with a joyful sense of security. It should never be used to take your spouse for granted but should give great confidence in your relationship with you spouse.
If your partner dies, you are free to remarry without any sense of guilt, abandonment, or betrayal. Upon death, you are no longer bound to your former mate. You may marry whoever you wish (provided it's in the Lord).
Again we are told (I think for the last time) that it would be better for such a person (widow or widower) to remain single. Actually it says that the newly widowed will be "happier" if they do not remarry. In some cases and in some places this may be true even today, but it was especially so during the aforementioned persecution.
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