The Achimota District in the Achimota Area of The Church of Pentecost has organised the 2021 edition of its annual event for singles and would-be couples dubbed “Pre-Marriage School.”
The event, which took place at the Achimota Central Assembly auditorium on February 13, 2021, is organised to equip singles and prospective couples within the District with godly principles and knowledge to build fruitful and godly relationships leading to happy and lasting marriages.
Speaking on the main theme of the event, “Be Intentional About Love,” the immediate-past Deputy Youth Director of the and Counselor at the Pentecost University, Elder Amos Kevin-Annan, asserted that goosebumps (emotional chills) should not be used by people looking for romantic relationships or marriage partners as evidence of true love.
He recounted that. “A lady came to me some years ago and said, ‘Daddy, finally I have found true love. So, I asked her, ‘How did you know that he is the one?’ She replied, ‘Daddy, I get goosebumps and chills whenever I meet him.’ And I told her, ‘My dear it is not enough.’”
“Please don’t be part of this generation of emotional flight; goosebumps and chills are temporal. True love is decorated with patience, forgiveness, trust, and respect for one another and considers God’s opinion at any point in time,” he emphasised.
Elder Kevin-Annan further noted that many people are fatigued about love because of bruises and hurts they suffered from unhealthy romantic relationships.
“For one to be intentional about love, it is essential to know these eight (8) kinds of love to help you know which love to embrace or run away from it.
He listed them as Phileo (friendship love), Storge (Love for relatives), Eros (Romantic or passionate love), Pragma (Long-lasting love), Ludus (Playful or flirting love), Philuatia (Love for oneself), Mania (Obsessive love) and Agape (God’s unconditional love).
Reading from Romans 13:10, Elder Kevin-Annan explained that “one must love God first (vertical love) before he or she can truly love a fellow human being (horizontal love) in a way that pleases God.”
Highlighting Mania, the obsessive kind of love, Elder Kevin-Annan cautioned people who are looking for love to be careful of this kind of love. He posited that this kind of love always seeks to control its intended target.
“Obsessive love says, if you don’t post my pictures on Facebook, Instagram etc. you don’t love me, if you don’t have sex with me you don’t love me if you don’t tell the secret of your strength you don’t love me, if you leave me, I will kill myself etc.,” he indicated.
He cautioned young people “never settle for any person that demands you to disobey God just to prove your love to him or her.”
Touching on the characteristics of lust, Elder Amos Kevin-Annan explained that “lust is full of impatience; it always wants more and takes advantage of people vulnerability. A lustful person always shows affection just to make one a victim.”
“True love waits, casts out fear, trusts, never fails and always seeks to glorify God. Never fall in love because it could be fatal but rather be in love, yes be intentional about it and nurture it to glorify God and you will find lasting peace and joy in your marriage,” he concluded.
Report by Blessed Amonoo
