THE ROLE OF TRAIT FORGIVENESS IN MARITAL CONTENTMENT AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN CITAM ASSEMBLIES, NAIROBI, KENYA

In most marriages, marital problems are encountered once in a while. Couples who have very happy marriages also encounter problems in their relationship with each other due to an offense committed by the spouse. For a couple to maintain a healthy marital relationship, they need to have the ability to forgive each other. Through forgiveness, married partners become more like Christ and invite the Holy Spirit to enable them to show their love for the spouse and build a safe and holy relationship that could bring contentment. The study examined the role of trait forgiveness in marital contentment among married men and women selected in two Christ Is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) assemblies in Nairobi, namely Woodley and Valley Road. The objectives of the study were to examine the role of trait forgiveness on marital contentment and to investigate how commitment, empathy, and communication affect the relationship between forgiveness and marital contentment. A mixed-methods design was used to collect data using questionnaires and a focus group discussion guide. Results showed a very strong positive correlation between trait forgiveness and marital contentment with a relatively high composite score being obtained for trait forgiveness. Results revealed themes of intimacy, patience, affirmation, self-control, reflection, and praying together on the moderating role of commitment, empathy, and communication. This calls for its magnification in both counseling practice and marriage and family therapy sessions as a sustainable antidote to marital contentment under relational stress, especially among Christian couples. Counseling practitioners should therefore emphasize the principle of forgiveness as the key to healing emotional wounds that are caused by offenses that manifest in the course of a marriage.

What Causes Divorce among Christian Couples in Kinshasa City?

Marriage is a great institution for all Christians but its value as a divine institution and the basic unit of any society is declining. The rate of divorce is growing every day. This is due to several causal factors which include sterility as the principal cause, and poverty. To avoid this, the State and the church are invited to sustain the married. This article has four parts namely: introduction, methodology, results and discussion, and conclusion.

Ever-Single Heterosexual Couples in Nonmarital Cohabitation: Spirituality, Connectedness, and Adjustment

This article reports a study on the effectiveness of WhatsApp-based spiritual posts in promoting connectedness and adjustment among ever-single heterosexual couples in nonmarital cohabitation in four global cities. In comparison with trivia posts, the spiritual posts had greater impact and were more effective for Christian couples, middle class, highly qualified, and professionals-salaried cohabitants. This was in comparison with Hindu–Buddhist–Sikh dyads, upper class, with college degree, and entrepreneurs. However, cohabitation duration, initial cohabitation experience with other partners, having children/cohabitation dependents, and near future marriage plans were not significant predictors. Gender also did not significantly moderate spiritual intervention responses as proposed in the previous research. Couple intervention outcomes were mutually interdependent and intervention compliance in terms of number of posts read and do-it-yourself exercises posted were robust predictors of intervention success. With some subgroup-specific refinements, WhatsApp-based spiritual posts would be an effective spiritually sensitive social work intervention for improving relationship quality of nonmarital cohabitants.

Hannah’s prayer for a male child: Interpreting 1 Samuel 1:11 in the Nigerian context

Studies have shown that a preference for male children is prevalent in many parts of the world, including Africa. In Nigeria, with its patriarchal family structure, a preference for sons has become an institutionalised way of life. Hence, the Hannah narrative in 1 Samuel 1 is of high relevance in Nigeria. The story of Hannah’s barrenness has often been employed to encourage childless Christians to have faith in God for children, but not many have paid attention to her request specifically for a male child in verse 11. To this end, Hannah’s prayer for a male child is examined in this article against the context of the strong desire for male children in Nigeria. The article employed the historical-critical and descriptive methods. Apart from the exegesis of 1 Samuel 1:11, using the descriptive approach, the author interacted with and utilised relevant material on preference for male children in Nigeria. The research found that Hannah’s request for a son is consistent with the pattern of the narratives of barren mothers in the Old Testament in which all asked for male children. Hannah’s specific request for a male child is therefore a reflection of the preference for sons in ancient Israel, which derived principally from the fact that, in that society, male children were greatly desired for the purpose of the perpetuation of the husband’s lineage, as well as for land inheritance. Understanding Hannah’s prayer for a son in this way, makes 1 Samuel 1:11 relevant in Nigeria where people prefer male children for similar reasons. In view of the fact that the preference for sons has a fatal effect on female children, as well as their mothers, it amounts to women abuse, which makes it an issue of pastoral significance in Nigeria. 1 Samuel 1:11 is thus relevant in the context of marital conflicts among Nigerian Christian couples arising from male child preference. To this end, teaching to illuminate this preference for sons should form an integral part of the marriage theology of the church in Nigeria.Contribution: The article is a contribution in the field of marriage theology, in that it identifies the preference for male children as a possible factor for marital disharmony among Nigerian Christian couples.

“SAMPAI MAUT MEMISAHKAN KITA?”: PANDANGAN MENGENAI PERNIKAHAN, PERCERAIAN, DAN PERNIKAHAN KEMBALI BERDASARKAN PERSPEKTIF IMAN KRISTEN

Currently, marriage has devaluated. Marriage, divorce, and then remarriage and divorce again have become the game of life. These have caused many couples to take the short-cut when facing problems in marriage. Unfortunately, not few of the divorcees confess that they are Christians. Many people decide separation, divorce and remarriage as solutions of the problem being faced. This is not what God intended when He instituted marriage in the first place. This writing seeks to convey the concept of marriage based on Christian perspective as well as to analyze the problems regarding divorce and remarriage. Furthermore, pastoral ministry steps will be discussed related with the dilemma of pastors’ ministry in handling divorce and remarriage cases while believing that despites of all existing problems, holy marriage is worth continuing to be taught and fought for by every Christian couples. Dewasa ini, pernikahan mengalami devaluasi. Menikah, bercerai, kemudian menikah lagi lalu bercerai lagi seolah merupakan permainan dalam hidup ini. Hal ini membuat banyak pasangan sering mengambil short-cut ketika mengalami masalah dalam pernikahan. Celakanya, tidak sedikit dari mereka yang bercerai mengaku kristen. Banyak orang memutuskan perpisahan, perceraian, dan pernikahan kembali sebagai solusi dari masalah yang sedang dihadapi. Ini bukanlah yang Allah kehendaki ketika Ia menciptakan pernikahan. Tulisan ini berusaha memaparkan konsep pernikahan berdasarkan perspektif iman Kristen serta menganalisis problematika seputar perceraian dan pernikahan kembali. Selain itu, langkah-langkah pelayanan pastoral akan didiskusikan berkaitan dengan dilema pelayanan hamba Tuhan dalam penanganan kasus perceraian dan pernikahan kembali dengan meyakini bahwa terlepas dari berbagai problematika yang ada, pernikahan yang kudus layak untuk terus ditanamkan dan diperjuangkan oleh setiap pasangan Kristen.

Collectivist Discourses in Relational Intersectionality: Insights from Chinese American Christian Couples

Intersectionality espouses progressive societal dominant discourse norms that describe persons as individuals connected to a variety of social locations (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status [SES], ethnicity, sexual orientation, spirituality, vocation). This may not resonate with the cultural ideals of collectivist and bicultural communities, who are better understood when considered in context of both dominant and local intersectionality discourses. This retrospective interpretive thematic analysis examines the lived experiences of Chinese American Christian couples as they negotiate identity and roles in early parenthood. Findings indicate that the intersection of collectivist group identity markers, cultural values and spirituality guides how partners understand identity and negotiate relationship roles in marriage. Couples’ varied responses to cross-cultural and dominant discourse norms and other social location factors (e.g., vocation and SES) also account for individual differences. Implications for Chinese American Christian couples, and for the application of intersectionality theory to diverse populations, are discussed.