Memorise:
Marriage
is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge.
Hebrews 13:4
Read: Ephesians 4:14-15
4:14
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ:
Message
It
is one thing to choose the right partner in marriage; it is another thing to
choose the right approach to courtship. A wrong approach to courtship,
particularly Christian courtship, can have a negative impact on the right
choice. Therefore, believers that are in courtship must be Christian through
and through if they would eat the good of the land of marriage (Isaiah 1:19).
An important lesson for ladies to learn is that, a man is at his best in courtship.
He would call you by different pet names. He would tease you and make you feel
secure. These are the normal sweet words you should hear in courtship. However,
when the wedding ceremony is over, his hidden shortcomings will be exposed
because he can no longer hide them. The saying that “love is blind” is true but
marriage is the tool to open the eyes of the blind lover. You will discover the
real personality of a man or woman after the wedding ceremony.
For
courtship to be Christian in nature, the admonition in today’s Bible reading
must be our watchword. Courtship between two children of God must not be
handled childishly. It should be handled with maturity as expected of a serious
relationship. There are many false doctrines flying around and children of God
must beware of them. For example, some people believe that once you are in
courtship, you can begin to co-habit, doing all sorts of ungodly things
together. They call it “trial marriage”. This has no place in Christianity. It
is whore-mongering. More often than not, after these so-called brothers have
had their fill of the so-called sisters, they dump the sisters for those they
regard as “reserved and self-disciplined”. In the same vein, there are terrible
wolves in sheep’s clothing among some so-called sisters too. They try to make
unsuspecting naïve brothers get them pregnant and the result is what we call
shot-gun marriage. This is a marriage not properly prepared for. Christian
courtship must be characterised with sincere gestures. It involves sharing past
and present experiences with your would-be wife or husband. It should look
beyond the present to future aspirations. You should lay your future bare in
the hands of Jesus Christ. Though there may be sincere disagreements during
courtship, these are not strong enough reasons to break the courtship. However,
if a courtship is full of troubles that you are almost getting suffocated with
sinful or legalistic demands of your partner, you need to have a rethink of the
relationship. This situation calls for fresh prayer. You may have made a
mistake in the first place.
Prayer Point:
Father, please guide our youths
during Christian courtship; let such relationships culminate in holy wedlock
and a glorious marriage.
BIBLE
IN A YEAR: Acts 16:16-18:17 & Act 17
AUTHOR:
Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Comments
Post a Comment