Preparations for a Successful Marriage

These preparations fall into spiritual, physical and material. Contemplating marriage without being all-round ready is tantamount to foolishness.It is foolhardy to contemplate marriage if you are still living with your parents as a man. You do not have a job, you do not have a house, you do not have money, you do not even have enough clothes, may be you are not even up to age, you are still studying and yet you want to marry. That is foolishness

Spiritual Qualifications: You need to be converted into the Gospel through salvation, sanctification and baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. You need these Christian experiences to equip you to be a successful husband or wife. You must be a Christian in good standing, not because you hear people saying they want to marry and you just want to join the line. It is very important because you ought to live a life of victory otherwise, you are not a Christian. You must have a consistent testimony of victory. You must have a well built-in spiritual reservoir that can withstand in the day of trouble. Some people get married but on every small thing they will run to mummy or daddy. Do you think you are still a small boy? For you to get married, you must have been of age and as such you should be able to solve problems. You do not have to take your problems to your parents. By the grace of God since I got married, I have never taken any problem to my parents. Pray and God will help you. If you are unstable and cannot withstand temptation and trials, you are not ready for marriage.

Physical Readiness: You must be of age and not a minor. A minor is somebody below 18. We do not encourage people of such age to go into marriage because running a home requires maturity. You must be mature mentally to enable you dwell with your spouse according to knowledge.

Mental maturity will enable you dwell with your spouse with respect. It will make you to know, 'My husband is tired, I do not need to introduce this kind of topic or my wife is fatigued, I do not need to worry her.' But if you are not mentally mature, you see a woman who is fagged out, you are worrying her; that is wickedness borne out of immaturity. The Bible states that a man who is not able to provide for his own home is worse than an infidel. So if you are contemplating marriage, you should have a job that can sustain the marriage. You should know how to cook and take care of the home. Whether you are a man or woman, you should know how to cook and how to take care of the home. If you do not know how to cook, if your wife is sick, you will starve her to death.If you are a wife and you do not know how to cook, every day you want to go to Mr Bigg's or feed your husband with indomie or spaghetti.

Going to the market to bargain for prices will not only help you in good home management but keep your health on top. In addition, the man should have a befitting accommodation. Do not get married and keep your wife in a slum. That is not to mean that you build a skyscraper or furnish your home like a five-star hotel. No. You should have a good accommodation in a good place. Do not go into a slum; the slum is not for a child of God. If you are staying in a slum, tell God to bring you out of there. When you visit some people, you are not able to say, 'Please give me water to drink, 'because of the environment of their habitation. And you want to bring a properly groomed lady to such an environment, and you begin to complain, 'My wife does not respect me or my wife is not happy.'How can she be happy? The change is too drastic and sudden. If that is your situation, pray that God brings you out of the place because He said, "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me”(Isaiah 45:11).

Remember also that if you are not clean, you are liable to fall sick. We believe in divine healing; we should be the cleanest people ever. Let people see you as a clean creature, not that you keep inconveniencing people about. Sometimes some people marry some very nice wife and they keep annoying that wife. You do not make that wife happy. Even the simplest personal hygiene, you do not want to maintain. You will wear just one coat you have refused to dry-clean for over six months, and you are wearing it every time, forgetting that sweat will smell. Some may try to use 'Roll On', which may take care of the body odour for those who have it. The truth is that, the use of 'Roll On' does not replace personal hygiene. You must wash your body clean and your clothes clean. Not to mention that of women.

By the grace of God, children of God are wonderful. Children of God are clean creatures. I am emphasising it because sometimes you find exceptional creatures. If you have been an exception, please, fall in line.

The woman should also be industrious. She should be productive and employable. She should not be lazy. Nobody knows tomorrow. While the husband has the responsibility to take care of his wife, God may call the husband home and maybe there are children in school. We have seen noble children of God whose husbands died but they did not live a careless or immoral life because they want money from any man. Rather, they tightened their belt and stood their ground. They worked hard and trained their children. Today, they are happy for it.

As a Church, we have a good kitchen, where the organic food keeps us healthy and keeps us bouncing like a rubber ball. If you do not know how to cook, do not shy away from the kitchen. Tell them you want to help. Before, it was mandatory for all choristers to help in the kitchen. Sometimes we take Sunday school teachers and members of the Association of Visiting Secretaries (AVS) there to help. Those who go there to help have never regretted it. You must know how to do these things; the knowledge will help you greatly.