faith oyedepo

THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIP (4)

Dear Reader,

You are welcome to the last edition of this teaching on your regular column, Family Life. God has been faithful and has really opened our eyes over the past weeks to so many things we didn’t know before, about relationship. I believe you have been blessed.

Since this month began, we have been exploring the subject, ‘The Power of Relationship.’ Under this title, we have examined: what relationship is all about and the factors that can help you nurture and grow your relationships. The factors explored in the course of this teaching include: “commitment”, “Putting your home in order”, and last week, we discussed “Be the man of her dream”. I am sure the married men have been able to take advantage of that teaching in particular. When you, as a man, put them to use, it will help you to win your wife without stress. Today, we shall be looking at another interesting factor that can help you as a married woman to nurture and grow your relationships. You want to know this factor? Then, also Be the Woman of His dreams!

Just as every woman has expectations about the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with, woman, know that every man (your husband) also has some basic expectations of the woman he wants to marry. Every man would require his wife to:

Be a Help

Obviously, God instituted marriage to get a suitable help for man; that is why He made the woman. The woman is therefore an ordained help for her husband. What are you to help your husband with? As a wife, God expects you to help your husband bear the load of responsibilities he carries. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18).

Your ‘ministry’ is to ensure that the man does not fail in his duties and that the family system does not break down. In other words, you are there in the family to help lift the weight not add to it. In other words, you are there to be a helper not a destroyer, castigator or betrayer.

Be a Home Maker

Every home is like a garden, and just as God gave Adam an instruction to dress and keep it, every home must be dressed to be kept. No matter how colourful your garden, if it is left unkempt, it is open to the attack of all kinds of insects that will eat up all your good fruits. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Genesis 2:15).

A woman is to keep her house spiritually by prayer and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, but she also keeps it practically by cleaning up and beautifying it. “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” they say. Therefore, let the environment be conducive for the Holy Spirit. The Bible says: That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:4-5)

Feed Him Well

There is a popular adage that says, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Woman, your family is what they eat. If they are healthy, it can be practically traced to their eating habits.

It is not enough to feed them with sumptuous food; you need to feed them right. Are the foods they eat nutritious? Or do you give them just anything? Don’t forget, wisdom is profitable to direct (Ecclesiastes 10:10).

In this day and age of processed foods and snacks (fast food), please secure the health of your family by feeding them with good food. Remember, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

Eve fed her husband; unfortunately, she fed him with poison instead of life. Woman, what are you feeding your “dream man”? Genesis 3:6 says: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Be Financially Accountable

Financial rest does not only come when you are a millionaire; it comes by being a good money manager. You must have a financial plan or else you are creating room for financial pain. A wise man once said, “Pain is a sign of disorder.” It follows that to experience financial pain is a sign of disorder in your spending.

You can prioritize your spending and maximize your income. Why must you put yourself into such pain by getting into debt? Spend within your means and be content with your income size for now. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase (Job 8:7).

Complement Your Spouse

One other way to nurture your relationship is by an often neglected key, and that is complements. Every human being loves to be praised either for what he has done or simply for who he is.

The key is to locate the good qualities in your spouse and focus on it. Also, express your appreciation for those good qualities by the words of your mouth. Learn to show appreciation for both small and great acts of kindness. You can also show appreciation by giving little gifts.

Make room for praise in your home. Praise God always and complement your husband or wife, and your relationship will be a heaven on earth experience!

However, for you to be able to possess good qualities that will make your relationship to last, you need a good relationship with Christ. Would you like to be born again? If yes, say this prayer of faith:

“Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the living God. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.”

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).

Congratulations! You are now born again! All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through contact@faithoyedepo.org; OR 07026385437 and 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores:

• Marriage Covenant
• Making Marriage Work
• Building A Successful Home
• Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).