How to Identify Your Life Partner
Welcome back, my dependable Compadres!
In my previous articles, I discussed the right way to Read the Bible and the essence of looking up to God in prayer. In this article, I would like to talk about how to identify your life partner.
The Bible tells us that God is love, and as I mentioned in my previous article, love is not merely an attribute of God; it is His personality. Therefore, when God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,” He intended to create human beings with an inherent capacity for love. Therefore, we have a natural inclination to love and be loved. It is worth mentioning that the most critical decision after salvation is choosing who to spend the rest of your life with. Your choice directly affects how the rest of your life turns out. Read on as I shed light on how you can identify your life partner.
Back to the Beginning
The Law of First Mention is a principle in Biblical hermeneutics (the study of interpreting Scripture) that suggests that the first appearance of a concept, theme, or word in the Bible establishes a foundational understanding that influences its meaning in later passages. The first time we saw relationship and marriage in the Bible was in Genesis 2:18–23. There, God created Adam, put him to deep sleep, removed a rip from his side, created Eve and brought her to Adam. When Adam woke up, his first utterance was, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” [3] Notice that God did not give a formal introduction: God never said, “Adam, behold your wife, Eve, behold your husband”. This suggests that God entrusted the man and the woman with the responsibility of initiating and building their relationship. This is further enforced in Proverbs 28:22 (NIV), when the Bible says, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” The man must search, but the woman must position herself strategically to be found.
God's role in the initiation of relationships
Marriage is God’s foremost institution and is very dear to Him. Because He has given us free will, He does not want to interfere with our lives or impose things on us. He knows what’s best for us and wishes we do them, but He does not force us. Moses understood this truth. Therefore, he said, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” [4] I have already established from Genesis that when God was done creating Eve, He brought her to Adam, and He ended there. God still does that for us today. He doesn’t tell us who to date or marry, but He orders the steps of potential couples and creates opportunities for their paths to cross. The onus lies on them to know that they are meant to be together.
We live in the milieu of a massive stream of constant stimuli that vie for our attention, and heaven’s communication gets too easily lost in the static. People may miss the person God intended for them for several reasons. A few are discussed in the section below.
Worldview Influence
Some people miss their partners because their worldview influences them. A literal definition of a worldview is our perception of the world. Several factors encapsulate a worldview; this includes but is not limited to where we were born, the society we grew up in, the food we ate, the kind of parent or family we had, the school we attended, etc. All these can influence how we see the world. Several people have developed certain perceptions about relationships and marriage due to their worldviews. This can affect how they approach relationships or marriages.
Although certain perceptions may have little or no scientific evidence, they largely influence people’s worldviews. For instance, there is the belief that people with short stature and stammerers have a hot temper [5], [6]. Again, some are of the view that men of certain tribes are misers, womanisers, etc. Also, some people believe that women from certain tribes might be more prone to cheating.
These and many other beliefs serve as the exclusive criteria for people, ultimately leaving them with limited options. As frivolous as these may sound, they may influence people’s worldviews, depriving them of searching or allowing them to be found by people in any of these groups and beyond.
The Wrong Impressions
Several people have had wrong impressions about relationships and marriages because they were exposed to relationships or marriages that were far from what God instituted in the beginning. For instance, children who observed any of their parents constantly abused by the other parent may have a wrong impression about marriage. Further, certain people perceive relationships and marriages in the light of a movie they watched. Therefore, they expect their partners to behave like the characters they saw in the film. Until such people appreciate that specific lifestyles can only be lived in movies, they will be moving from one relationship to another in search of the ideal person they have in their subconscious.
What Next?
Treating this vital subject in one article will make it unbearably long. Therefore, I would like to keep this introduction brief. In the next article, I will discuss how you can readily tell when you meet your life partner. Being guided by the word of God, I will seek to bring illumination to help illuminate this essential subject.
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References
[1] 1 John 4:8
[2] Genesis 1:26
[3] Genesis 2:23
[4] Deuteronomy 30:19
[5] Wikipedia, “Napoleon complex”. Accessed September 11, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex
[6] Quora, “Why do stammerers have hot temper?”. Accessed September 11, 2024. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-stammerers-have-hot-temper.
Comments:
Afia Abrafi
God bless you Papa Dan. This is refreshing to read. Thanks for taking the time.
Irene Emefa Dravie
Very insightful 🔥This came right on time, thank you Pastor Daniels, God bless you Sir
Akwasi Acheampong
Very insightful
Awura
I like this statement “He doesn’t tell us who to date or marry, but He orders the steps of potential couples and creates opportunities for their paths to cross.” And that has given me a deeper understanding of how we need to seek God’s guidance in every way of our lives! Not to miss any opportunity
God bless you