Mrs. Rose Dansoa Kumi-Larbi, wife of the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, has advised Christian couples to strive to build good and healthy marriages, emphasising that marriage is hard work!
“A healthy marriage requires diligent work to build. A good marriage, is, therefore, not something you find; it is something you make and continue making,” she said when she exhorted members of the Shalom Worship Centre during a graduation ceremony for graduands of the church’s Post-Marital School yesterday.
Delivering a sermon titled: “Jesus Christ and His Church; A Model for A Good Marriage” with Ephesians 5:21-33 and Philippians 2:1-8 as scripture references, Mrs. Kumi-Larbi said that a healthy marriage is very beneficial to both parties in the marital union.
She said that a good marriage brings happiness, peace and good health to couples. It also promotes the wellbeing and development of children, serves as a springboard for one’s professional career, earns one respect in society and grants couples unhindered access to God, she added.
Mrs. Kumi-Larbi, however, noted that marriage requires the utmost commitment of both parties in order to succeed.
“For me, marriage is like salvation. We are saved only by grace, but we are expected to work on our salvation so that we do not lose it. In the same vein, it is the Lord who leads us to our partners, but we are required to work on our marriage to achieve the purpose for which God brought us together as a couple,” she explained.
Mrs. Kumi-Larbi said that marital unhappiness and divorces are on the rise in the contemporary generation due to the self-centred nature of the people who enter the holy estate.
She explained that Christ’s relationship with the Church serves as the ideal model that couples should emulate to have successful marriages.
Reading from the Ministers’ Manual of The Church of Pentecost, Mrs. Kumi-Larbi stressed that marriage is an image that mirrors Christ’s relationship with the Church, and, thus, must be honoured by all.
She defined honour as the act of ascribing the great respect to something or someone and urged Christians to honour God with their marriages.
“Honour your wife or husband because when you honour your spouse, you honour God,” she charged.
To enjoy marital bliss, she urged couples to emulate Christ’s selflessness, humility, mercy, servant-leadership and love towards the Church in their marriages.
She, therefore, advised husbands to endeavour to love their wives unconditionally and be merciful to them when they offend them in any way; whilst advising wives to be humble and honour their husbands in their speech and conduct.
“Don’t compete with each other in marriage. You are partners and not competitors!” she further stated.
Mrs. Kumi-Larbi also cautioned prospective couples and singles that marriage is a holy estate that should not be taken lightly, but undertaken and entered into in all solemnity, with wisdom and forethought, reverently in the fear of God.
This, according to her, should be done with the clear understanding that marriage was first ordained for the mutual help, fellowship and comfort that the one ought to have for the other, in prosperity and adversity, for the honourable procreation of children and their training in love and obedience to the Lord.
“Marriage is not just about funfair, wedding ceremonies and receptions; it is hard work,” she reiterated.
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