Christian singles, especially women, should always look out for God-fearing persons when choosing a spouse for marriage, Mrs. Gladys Oduro, wife of the Yennyawoso District Minister of The Church of Pentecost, has advised.
Mrs. Oduro administered this piece of advice when she delivered a sermon at the climax of the New Tafo Area week celebration on Sunday, July 10, 2022, at the Yennyawoso Central Assembly auditorium. Referencing Colossians 3:18-21; Matthew 19:2-8; Malachi 2:15-16, among others, she spoke on the topic: “Causes and Effects of Divorce.”
According to her, material things, profession, and physical appearances should not be the criteria for selecting a life partner as such do not guarantee a peaceful and successful marriages.
She, therefore, charged single people to have a prescience to look beyond physical attributes of their suitors before accepting or turning down their proposals.
Mrs Oduro further noted that one reason for the institution of marriage was for couples to raise godly children. In that sense, she admonished couples not to pull apart what God has joined together because whoever divorces their spouse becomes an enemy of God as divorce defeats God’s purpose of marriage.
“God will not forgive us if we do not marry in accordance with His directives because marriage is dear to Him,” she cautioned.
Admitting to the challenges and painful nature of some happenings in marriage, Mrs. Oduro incited married couples to strive to exercise patience no matter the circumstances, stressing that “marriage is work.”
She advised the congregants against failure to obey God’s word, fantasies, unforgiveness, distant relationship, bad company, laziness and poverty as such are potential causes of divorce.
On effects of divorce, Mrs. Oduro attributed the moral decadence and social vices such as streetism, waywardness of children, drug addictions, teenage pregnancies, armed robberies, among others, to broken homes.
She, therefore, urged married and prospective couples to use means of managing marital issues to avoid incidence of broken homes for proper upbringing of their children. This, she said, could be done through prayer, God’s guidance and adequate planning, noting that all married couples living by the rules of love and submissiveness as enshrined in the scriptures can make their marital union glorious.
“Next to Christianity is good marriage,” she remarked.
She also noted that childlessness does not negate God’s original design for the family because whether or not married couples have children, God still considers them a family.
The week-long event, dubbed “Kohinta,” was held in two sessions; morning and evening. The event was organised under the general theme: “God’s Original Design For The Family” (Colossians 3:18-21) with several thematic areas exhaustively treated by various speakers.
Report by Yennyawoso District Media Team