According to the theme for the month of October in the New Heritage Baptist Church, Eniosa, Ibadan titled “Liberty through Family Discipline”, the Pastor-in- Charge, Pastor Philemon Ajide charged the congregation on the need to be disciplined as liberty cannot be experienced without discipline.
“If we want to experience liberty as a nation, we need to trace it to discipline at various homes (family) because most of the problem we experience in the nation arises from lack of discipline in the Family,” he stated.
“Family is the first and oldest institution established by God according to Genesis 2: 18 for Companionship, Procreation and to avoid fornication. We should therefore make Christ the groundwork (foundation) of our homes. A family that will stand the test of time should be built on a solid foundation- CHRIST,” he added.
Talking about what marriage stands for, he pointed, ” Marriage is a gift from God that should be cherished. God orchestrated marriage not Adam. According to Genesis 2:18, Adam did not solicit for a woman but God saw it as a necessity for him to get a help-mate and so He provided Eve.
“Marriage is an opportunity to learn how to love, it is a call to servant-hood and a call to friendship. Marriage is also a call to suffering/ endurance, it is a refining process and lastly, Marriage is not an event but a way of life”.
“Some marriage injuries that put homes in captivity includes invasion of regret which is the act of exhibiting dissatisfaction for marrying your spouse and the invasion of bitterness which is a seed that can bring forth bad fruits if not cured and so, one needs an instant healing as soon as it is noticed.
“Bitterness in marriage is caused by Adultery (Deu 29:18), Disobedience to God’s instructions (Jer. 9:13-21), Drunkenness (Prov. 31:6, Is. 24:9) and Sin(Deu. 32:20),” he pointed.
Conclusively, institution of family is indeed glorious because it is a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the Church and if one desires a lasting Christian home, God should be allowed to make initiative in every area and one should also be ready to accept His initiative.
