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Have faith in finding love

PARTNERSHIP: Having support and companionship is important through every step in life

FEBRUARY IS the month when people’s minds turn towards love and relationships, and rightly so – it’s a topic that deserves our full attention.

It’s said that 70 per cent of our happiness comes from relationships – and not of the social media kind – but rather from friends, family, our community and of course marriage partners.

For Christians, relationships, especially romantic ones, should not be entered into lightly. Relationships are not a game. Emotions are not to be toyed with. People must treat the emotions of others with gentle, loving care and not seek to harm, mislead or confuse.

This is part of the reason why Christians who are in dating mode must take to heart the biblical advice to “guard” their hearts until they are aware of the other parties intentions and know where a burgeoning relationship is heading.

It’s said that love makes the world go round, and there’s something encouraging and uplifting seeing a couple loving and supporting each other. Whilst the single life has many virtues, The Bible does state that having support and companionship is better.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 states:

“Two are better than one/because they have a good return for their labor/If either of them falls down/one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls/and has no one to help them up.”

As the moral voice of the black community, churches need to be at the forefront of promoting the importance of relationships, encouraging marriage and helping couples lay the foundation on which to build a successful lifelong partnership and raise a family.

The black community is grappling with a number of social ills. Some of these could be redressed by going back to the biblical values we used to hold dear, like honouring marriage and seeing it as the best place to raise children. Too many black youth are now raised in families where there is no male presence.

They don’t get to see what a marriage looks like, let alone a loving one. How are youth to learn the value of marriage or know how to behave in one if they don’t see it modelled in their homes?

Fortunately, there are enough Christian couples who are living examples of what a good, loving relationship looks like.

At least once a year, every church should have a series of events and teachings about marriage, relationships and blended families and provide activities where people who are looking for a partner can connect.

Love is what makes the world go round – so lets look for opportunities to encourage love and to build loving relationships that help give our lives meaning and purpose.

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