Building successful and prosperous families.
1Cor 7 Marriage, Eph 5:22-33 Husband & wife,
Know and understand circles/sources of Influence on your husband/wife.
Ø Study/investigate how strong is the influence of the following people on your husband/wife:
1.Relatives e.g Grand parents, parents, Aunties, sisters, brothers etc.
2.Celebrities e.g footballers, musicians, politicians, Ministers of Religion, Comedians, Christians etc.
3.Traditions and cultural beliefs.
Whose voice has the most influence or is respected?
How can a Man effectively run his house?
Effective-Successful, Productive, Fruitful, Powerful.
-Successful in producing a desired or intended result.
1. Know who you are in Christ-your gift/s, strength and weaknesses, and your limits (2 Samuel 7:5-9,18-19, 1 Cor 12:4-11, Eph 4:11-12).
2. Communicate clearly/effectively your vision or identity to your wife and children (Remember it was Adam who was given the instructions of how to manage the garden of Eden (Gen 2:15-18).
a). Transparency: Gen 2:25 'The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.'
B). Adam and Eve had God's divine covering- No need for human made clothing/covering
3. Be a real Man - A man of God who shun evil, but a God- fearing person (Job 1:1-3).
a), Love your wife -Pray for her and your children regularly (Job 1:5, Eph 5:25).
b). Be courageous-Protect your wife and children (wife is a product of man's rib, Ribs are inside a man's body, protected by the arms always, Gen 2:21-22).
c). Accept responsibility. (Job 1:5)
Good afternoon couples i hope i find you well allow me to talk a little bit about intimacy.
*Intimacy* means inner closeness. When you say "I want to be intimate with my spouse," you are talking about enjoying a relationship that isn't superficial.
It's not just about sex, you could be having sex with someone who is completely checked out, a million killometres away from you emotionally. Intimacy means opening your heart up to someone. When you are both followers of Jesus, the deepest parts of each of you are in communion.
That kind of spiritual intimacy, when two become one, is the greatest form of intimacy. So how do you create it in your marriage?
First, regard marriage as sacred. Marriage is not just a piece of paper. It is an act of the Spirit of God and it is a covenant. The Bible says, a covenant always required sacrifice. At the last supper, Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20).
Marriage only works as a covenant bond based on sacrifice. It has no end date. It is permanent until death. It says, "I will love you sacrificially until I die."
Compare that to the contractual view most people have of marriage. A contract marriage says, "I'm going to protect my rights and limit my responsibilities." It is cheap and impermanent. In a contract marriage, you already have your bags packed and one foot out the door "gumbo mumba gumbo panze".
How can you build your life with someone who cannot fully demonstrate a commitment to the relationship? 'Till death do us part is the spirit of a covenant marriage. In a covenant marriage, divorce is not an option.
Second, you must validate each other's emotions. Couples fight about things like money, children, sex and housework. But what they are really fighting about is the fact that one spouse doesn't identify with how the other spouse feels. In other words, "You don't care how I feel about how you spend money" or "You don't care how I feel about the kids not being disciplined."
Men and women are different we say we have been wired differently .We have unique needs and we don't always understand each other's perspective. That's okay. But even if you don't identify with what your spouse is saying or why he or she is saying it, you can still validate the emotions behind it. Emotions aren't always right, but they are always real we cant run away from that fact.
Validation says, "Even if I don't understand, what you feel is important to me because you are important to me." So don't roll your eyes. Don't dismiss his or her concerns. Don't throw up your hands ,walk away and bang the door in frustration. Doing these things disrupts your emotional connection, and that will destroy intimacy.
A healthy, intimate marriage requires a husband and wife who can talk to each other and share deep emotions without fear and without paying a price for it. Both of you must be each other's safest place in the world.
For an intimate marriage, you must start with the sacred commitment of a covenant. That spiritual bond gives you a foundation for emotional validation. These are crucial to building a marriage marked by intimacy.
May God bless your union.
*#two hearts one beat*