FRI. 31ST JANUARY, 2014 ODEHYIEBA DAILY DEVOTION TOPIC: CHOOSING A MARRIAGE PARTNER Pt 5 TEXT: Matthew 19:6 NIV So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. EXPOSITION We thank God for bringing us successfully to the end of the first month. May His name be praised forever HALLELUYAH!! We continue with our marriage series. Marriage is indeed a life-long commitment, so it is important that you find someone who’s just perfect for you. You need to make an effort to know the person better and have shared interests. We have so far looked at what it actually means to share common faith with your partner. Today, we shall be considering another important factor and that is the MATURITY of the person. Maturity is one important quality you need to look for in your partner. S/he should be mentally prepared to take on responsibilities of a family and should be capable of taking independent decisions at the time of crisis. Physical, emotional and intellectual maturity can be termed as ingredients that will lead to the stability of a relationship in the future. So, find out how matured and mentally prepared s/he really is before getting hitched. If I were asked, How can you tell if a person is mature? I would respond by saying, if a person consistently acts in a polite and good manner, he would be a mature person. However, if on the other hand he consistently acts in a childish manner, you can be certain that he would be an immature person. Aristotle once said, we are what we repeatedly do. While none of us is perfect or completely mature, if we understand the characteristics of maturity, we can work on these to grow unto maturity. One area of Maturity is Emotional maturity. Emotional maturity has to do with a healthy self-concept not thinking too highly or too lowly of oneself. On the other hand, you also need to have a healthy sense of self-acceptance and self-worth, which are both vital for loving relationships and making the best use of life. We were created for relationships and thus healthy relationships are vital for both physical and emotional wellbeing, while impaired relationships are one of the main causes of unhappiness and a major cause of stress, anxiety and physical ills in marriages. So many marriages have divorced due to some level of immaturity on the part of the other partner. If extra care is not taken, there is the possibility of enduring your marriage instead of enjoying it. May God lead us to choose wisely. Another vital characteristic of maturity is acting responsibly and appropriately in all situations neither overreacting nor under-reacting. People overreact when an unresolved issue from the past is triggered and they re-enact a response to this past painful event that has never been resolved. People underreact when they withdraw from dealing with an issue they need to confront. John Powell once said, We defend our dishonesty on the grounds that it may hurt another person and then, having rationalized our phoniness into nobility, we settle for superficial relationships. Now I guess you now know what to look for in an ‘ideal’ partner as far as maturity is concerned. May God be more gracious to us. We shall consider the 3rd factor God willing tomorrow. Stay blessed. PEACE-SHALOM! FURTHER STUDY I Corinthians 13 CHOOSE YOUR PARTNER WISELY STAY ABLAZE FOR CHRIST REMAIN RAPTURABLE
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 04:32:12 +0000