BEYOND “I AM IN LOVE” 2: DO NOT MARRY PACKAGING!
As the young man spoke with me, I could count the number of times that he said to me, “Papa told me…”. He repeated it so much that I had to ask him, “Who is Papa?” He then mentioned that he meant God.
As much as I believe in the importance of a believer hearing God, it becomes a thing of concern when everything you say is coloured with “God said to me…” I knew something was not just right.
Digging deeper, I could see that he was already almost succeeding in keeping the young lady in a trap by using his ‘presumed maturity and ability to hear God’ as bait. I warned the young woman to exercise caution. She did and broke free.
People who claim to always hear the Lord and do not have a discipline of studying the Word of the Lord are landmines to avoid on the pathway to marriage.
They try to use spiritual maturity to intimidate and manipulate you:
Anyone who tells you that they heard the Lord but does not believe you should hear the Lord for yourself stating that his own conviction is enough is a landmine. Anoint your feet and run.
Anyone who makes you feel that if you do not marry them, you are doomed for life. They lace their proposal with a subtle death threat. They are a landmine. Anoint your feet and run.
Anyone who thinks he or she is marrying you out of pity or to do you a favour because you have a history they are aware of is a landmine. It is worse if he or she continually brings up your past as a tool of negotiation. Please, anoint your feet and run.
Anyone who tells you that you need to keep the relationship secret, especially from those who should be holding you accountable- your pastors and your family, may be a snake under the green grass.
A pastor friend once suffered the shock of having the same man introduced to her by two different ladies at two different locations as the man they were looking forward to marrying. What if they kept it secret?
Anyone comfortable with enjoying all the benefits of married people without commitment to marriage is a sinner. Fornication is still a sin. You would not want to have the devil as your father-in-law.
Do not let gifts blind you so that you are discerning to see the fruits. Do not collect the gifts of a man and turn a blind eye to the terrible fruits. Gifts can blind men.
You still do not know men by their gifts but by their fruits.
Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:20 KJV
If you are not trained to discern, the devil can join your journey at the point of marriage through deception. You must trust the Lord for discernment and not joke with the counsel of those who can hold you accountable.
© temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa