Enjoying Family Life (4)
To conclude this month's teaching, I will be looking at Love as the major requirement for family life. Someone once said, "Where there is love, there is life". Love is not an optional thing; it is mandatory for life.
The Bible says:...He that loveth not his brother abideth in death (1 John 3:14).This scripture is telling us that absence of love is a sure way for it to pass from life to death. The absence of love in a family is a sure way for a family to merely exist instead of being a living family.
Until love is communicated among your family members, you may never taste fulfilment in the family. As a husband, your love for your wife must be expressed, because love is not love until it is expressed. The Bible says: God so loved, He gave... (John 3:16). God gave His love expression and as children of God you need to give your love expression.
Let the expression of love for your family emanate from your heart. When your heart is full of loving thoughts, it readily finds expression in the words you speak. If you think negatively about any member of your family, it will not take long for you to begin to speak negatively about that person. A man (or woman) who abuses his spouse is only saying what he (or she) has been thinking about that person over a period of time. So, change your thinking. Look for the good points in your spouse and stop focusing on the negative.
I want you to know that love is contagious. When a man loves his wife, not only will he win her submission, every other member of the family and even outsiders will respect him. Love has that effect. It goes beyond just one or two people. Choose to allow your family to be a living family by giving love expression.
"I love you" a three-word sentence, but has a lot of power in it. Most people find it easy to say, "I love you" or "I like you" to someone outside their homes. If you are that nice to someone outside your home, why not extend it to your family members. As a mother every time I said, "I love you" to my youngest daughter, she would give me a broad smile and run with joy, telling every one in the house, "Mummy said she loves me." Not only does it build security in her emotionally, it enables her to take correction from me, when I am correcting her, because she knows I am correcting her out of love.
Learn to say nice words to your family members. Husbands, it's not wrong to say, "I love you" to your wife often. In the Living Bible it is recorded that our Lord Jesus Christ said:Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others? (John 21:15)
And again, He said, "... Do you really love me?" (John 21:16).
If Jesus was curious to hear His disciples declare their love, how much more will our family members.
You can communicate your love non-verbally. Sometimes, a touch speaks just as much as words. A touch can speak volumes of love. Why should family members find it difficult to give a friendly hug towards each other, or hold each other's hands? I'll never forget an experience I had some years back. I was down physically and my husband went out one of those days and came back with a little beautifully wrapped gift, which he personally presented to me, expressing his love for me. Could you believe that, that little act of love from him brought me health and I never needed any more medication? Many years have passed, but I still kept that gift, well preserved till today.
There is no woman who hates to be loved. When you look at a dead man, all his physical senses are on hold. He can't communicate whether through words, touch, sight, smell or taste. To keep your family alive and enjoy a living family, communication is important. Love needs to be present and expressed to keep the family alive. Let love find full expression in your family and you will begin to enjoy a living family. If others are down, you be the one to encourage them. God's Word tells us that "the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife (1 Cor. 7:14).
As a family that is born again in Christ Jesus, begin to communicate love to the others and God's grace will cause others to follow suit. Be the initiator. Abraham's intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah saved his nephew Lot and his entire household (Genesis 18&19).
God wants to save your entire household, and He will use you to do it. Receive God's grace right now to fulfill this responsibility to your family.
Do you desire to be a vessel through whom God can touch the lives of other family members? Then you need to be one with Him. You can be one with God through new birth in Christ Jesus. You need to be born again. Why not say this prayer of faith with me: Dear Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I believe You died and rose again for my sake. Forgive me my sins, take control of my life; make me a child of God today and plant your rest into my life."
If you prayed this simple prayer, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God's Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).
Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through:
E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 234-1-7747546-8;
For more insight, these books authored by Pastor Faith Oyedepo are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all the Living Faith Churches, and other leading Christian bookstores:
- Single With A Difference
- Marriage Covenant,
- Making Marriage Work
- Building a Successful Family
- The Effective Minister's Wife
- Success in Marriage (Co-Authored with Bishop David Oyedepo).