Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo has said true love is not expressed only by kiss or sex but that it is sacrificing, sanctifying, sustaining, securing and solid.
He made the submission while preaching at the wedding of Adebayo, son of Dr Segun Oshinaga and Olufunmilayo, daughter of Pastor Amos Fenwa on Saturday, June 15 in Lagos.
Dr. Segun Oshinaga is a well-known teacher of the Word and a widely travelled conference speaker. Pastor Amos Fenwa on the other hand is the founder of Lagos-based Holy Ghost Christian Centre.
Attendees
The wedding attracted the who is who in the Pentecostal circle including Pastor Tunde Bakare, Archbishop Alagbala John Osa-Oni, Pastor Paul Sodeke, Prophet A.T Joel, Joseph Akinyele and the newly elected Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria Pastor Yemi Davids. Others at the event include Archbishop Isaac Nwaoji, Pastor Bolaji Idowu, Pastor Victor Adeyemi, and a host of others
How to know love
Ashimolowo preached on the topic, how to know if a man loves you. He injected a lot of anecdotes into his message to drive home his point implying that spousal love is not fantasy.
He said, “In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul gives us a powerful picture of love. By the way, the book of Ephesians is the only book where Paul did not make any corrections. In the book, he made us know that if a woman will submit to a man, the man has to love”
English language is limited
He noted that the English language which is just about 600 years old has only one word for love while the Yoruba, the language of the newly wedded couple has only one word too.
But he said Greek the original language of the New Testament has about eight words for love. “But for this message, I will only dwell on four of them,” Ashimolowo said.
He said further, “First is romantic and erotic love. It is love that has to do with attraction to the opposite person. Building marriage on only erotic love is like building a 25-story building on a bungalow foundation.
“The second kind of love is Philio. This kind of love is the love you have for your brothers. But you can’t build a marriage on Philio. And then there is Storge; which is the love you have for your relations. In every family, there are strange relations. It is the love that takes advantage of you.
“The fourth kind of love is Agape. That is the love Jesus had when he came to look for us. When we were yet sinners Jesus came to die for us. It is the kind of love that you can build a lasting marriage on. “Time will test your relationship. You will need eros, philio, storage, and agape. Agape is the sacrificial love. It is the love of Christ.”
He emphasized that the love a man should have for his wife has to be sacrificial, sanctifying, securing, sustaining, and solid.
Protect your spouse
Facing the couple he said, “You are the one to protect her. The word sanctify means to make pure in Hebrew. It means to build a world of fire around something. There will be things thrown at your home, but you must sanctify your home.
“Let them know they will have to come through you to get to your wife. Show her sustaining love. Provide for her. The man is the number one provider. You are to be the king of your castle.
“Then we have the Sustaining love. It is love that does not have to look up to her father’s house. It is tough out there. I speak of 43 years of marriage. Keep your wife from hurt. Keep her from danger. When a man loves a woman, he sacrifices, sanctifies, sustains, secures her, and gives her solid love.
The KICC founder said, “It was the man who was told to leave his father’s house according to the Bible. You need to leave emotionally. mentally and build on your own. If Abraham did not leave, he would not have been able to build. Build a secure home. When a man loves a woman, he loves her with solid love. Two are better than one.”