I welcome you again to this awesome week on your usual column.  Last week, I spoke on the terms of marriage covenant.  It is important to note what marriage is all about before one says, “I do” to anyone because it is a union of a life time.

This week, I shall be examining what I have captioned, Love Factor!

Keeping love alive in marriages is a serious business, thus, it shouldn’t be toyed with.  It is important to state here that a great marriage is not one that simply stays together.  A great marriage is one in which spouses experience deep personal communion with each other.

God’s Word says: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:25).  Thus, the key to this ‘deep personal communion’ in married life is mutual self-giving love and the accompanying sense of responsibility for each other as a gift.

The Bible specifies that love is from God.  In actual fact, the Bible says “God is love” (I John 4:7-8).  Love is a major characteristic of God.  Similarly, since we are created in His image, God has endowed us with the capacity for love.  This capacity for love is one of the ways in which we are created in the image of God.

Someone once said and I believe, “The greater the feeling of responsibility for your spouse, the more true love there is”.  Note here that he/she didn’t say the more powerful the emotions, the more powerful the love is.

That is to say, true evaluation of love looks outward in awe at the beloved who has entrusted herself to you, and has a deep sense of responsibility for her good.

Because sin had not yet entered the world, Adam did not struggle with selfishness.  Thus, he loved his wife not for what he could get out of the relationship, but for whom she was as a person according to his assertion in Genesis 2:23-24.

Adam accepted his wife as a tremendous gift that he would treasure and care for.  He had a profound sense of love responsibility for her, and he always sought what was best for her, not just his own interests.  He never did anything that would hurt her.

The love responsibility is the main key to growing your marriage hitch-free.  Husbands, do you want a glorious wife without spot or wrinkle, holy and pure?  Then, love your wife as your own body!  By so doing, you would have created a glorious wife.

As a husband, you have gone through this piece and you desire to express love as defined in the Bible.  Being born again is the key.  It necessitates confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.  In case you are not yet born again and you would like to, please pray this prayer with me: Dear Lord Jesus, I come to You today as a sinner. I believe You died and rose on the third day for my sins.  I accept You as my Lord and Saviour.  Make me a child of God today.

Congratulations!  You are now born again!