Lack of love for one another provoking the wrath of God – Cleric

Primate Olufunke Babayemi is the founder of Jerusalem Church of the Lord International, (Ile-Ewe), Ikere road, Ado-Ekiti. The ministry is about to celebrate her 33rd special annual programme tagged: Oluwa temi kii se aseti. In this interview with The Nigerian Xpress, she advocated the need for the revival of true love for one another, stressing that lack of it, as the root cause of the negative happenings bedevilling the country.

The family is a unit of every society, in what way(s) do you suggest parents/guardians could help inculcate good  morals in their children/wards to reduce moral decadence in the society?

In every family, marriage between husband and wife must be for oneness. God loves marriage, which was why He instituted it. When oneness prevails, by the time procreation begins, their child/ children will want to follow the attitudes or behaviours of their parents. From the day a child is born and during breastfeeding periods, the child begins to watch the behaviours of its parents and if the parents are good at shouting, abusing and calling each other names, he memorises those names and by the time he starts to talk, he says those things he has learnt from his parents.

So, whatever examples, good or bad, laid by the parents, he takes to them. For instance, babies tend to bite their mothers during breastfeeding, what most mothers do in return, is to use their fingers or the nipples to flip the cheeks or lips of their babies by this, the baby will know he has done a wrong thing and he is likely not to repeat same.

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Good moral upbringing starts from there. Couples should do things with the fear of God. The bible says, spare the rod, spoil the child, meaning, whenever the father is scolding the child/children, the mother should avoid arresting the situation, going confrontational or wearing unnecessary countenance; this is also applicable to the fathers.

Parents, train your children/wards in the ways of the Lord so that when they grow up they will not depart from it. Make them understand that taking to good morals is rewarding. Parents should by every means avoid subjecting their children and children from other parents to mistreatments. God has made it incumbent upon you to cater for them; therefore, don’t shift this responsibility to your househelps and the social media. Your children don’t only need your money but also your bodily care.

Give them practical parenting by making yourselves available to them. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, love and be submissive to your husbands while both of you should show practical love towards your children/wards. This will help a lot to build healthy families and societies.

Some people have opined that the security rocking, rocking the nation is a sign of endtime; others, said it is the harvest of what bad leadership had sown in the country; what is your perspective?

Our security system is very poor. Only God is our security. No one can tell of the next minute. How can a sane person indulge in kidnapping a fellow human being to get ransom? The innocent are being kidnapped. This is sinful and very grievous before God. Our security agencies are supposed to do thorough investigations in this regard to get and fish out the perpetrators, but alas, it is not so. There is no good security system in the country. Our security system is very frail.

Another perspective to the issue of insecurity is lack of love. We don’t love one another. In developed countries, if anyone goes missing, they do all their possible, all installed devices like the CCTV are brought to bear to do thorough investigations to recover the victim; the reverse plays out here in Nigeria. It is not really about bad leadership, though, the issue of endtime is part of it because the bible says in the last days perilous time shall come, but basically, it’s about lack of true love.

True love has long been missing in this country. The kind of love we show or have for one another is like that of a man who buys some chicks in January, rears them with good feed, so that they can grow and become fat, looks after them so they don’t fall prey to other animals or human beings and kills them by December, this kind of chicken love is what we have towards one another. Our love for one another is speedily waxing cold.

The lack of love for one another in this country is really provoking the wrath of God, hence, the security challenges and other vices haunting the nation. God hates sin. He looks away from anybody or country that commits sin and looks back in your direction to support you whenever you do that which is good and right before Him, this He did to the Israelites in the bible and He is still doing.

The Israelites went through severe punishments whenever they sinned against God and always triumphed whenever they are on the same page with God. Nigeria is unconscious of the very fact that God is sore vexed with her. Some people will say God is never annoyed; this is not true.

The marriage institution has always been faced with so many challenges, hence, failed marriages, what strategies do you think couples and would-be couples could do to have healthy marriages?

Most Marriages are faced with myriads of challenges because couples no longer involve God, they do things separately and in their own ways. God is against woman, claiming the position of man. God created the man and from the man’s ribs He created the woman so that the man will not be alone. There is no amount of the fitness of a woman that can equate that of a man and men should not take advantage of this to beat up women, talk recklessly at, or inflict pains on them. Don’t compare your spouse with another.

Husbands, don’t compare your wives with other women, likewise, wives don’t compare your husbands with other men; such is a killer to a good marriage. Also, wives, whenever your husband buys you something, even if you don’t like it, try and appreciate it and thank him, this will encourage him to do more. Good communication between couples promotes a healthy home. Husbands whenever your wife seeks your opinion or attention on any issue, make yourself available, give her a listening ear, avoid procrastination and unnecessary excuses, because your inability to give her your time as at when needed could make her to confide in a third party.

Do you know that, that third party may end up being enemy of your home? The involvement of a third party may spring up something else that might at the end bring jeopardy on your home. Also, couples should learn to have respect for each other. For instance, Vashti in the bible, disrespected her husband, the King. The (King) was happy, and sought to see the queen (Vashti) in the presence of so many people that gathered before him. He (king), therefore, handed his crown to one of his servants to decorate Vashti, his beautiful queen and fetch her before the gathering.

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Vashti refused the King’s request instead. Although, the bible didn’t give reasons for her refusal, whether it was as a result of pride, her beauty or shyness, her refusal shocked all in attendance and the King’s allies pronounced that Vashti must leave. That one action paved the way for Esther’s arrival. We can’t really say what got Vashti wrapped up to have turned down the king’s request.

Couples should learn to have respect for each other. Give and call each other pet names. It is not good to call each other by christened names and by the time you are blessed with your own child(ren), you can call each other by the names of your child(ren); continue with the pet names you are used to. Have respect for each other’s opinion on finances.  Respect for each other is important.

Your ministry’s annual programne, how impactful has it been to human lives?

God has always been faithful and glorified, as testimonies abound. Those who have seen the hands of God can talk better on this. Testimonies are better heard from them. Just try and interview some of the congregants, you hear them reel out God’s wonders. In a nutshell, many through the power of God have sung new and beautiful songs. Many will encounter God’s mightiness again in this year’s edition.

What are your words for the people of God?

My words for them are that they should be prayerful. May God have mercy on us as a church and as a country. As a shepherd, God has not sent you to truncate lives or destinies of your sheep. Shepherds are to care for and protect their sheep and even their fellow shepherds. This also applies to every sheep in Christendom. Let us be real Christians and not the lukewarm type. You can’t be sitting on the fence. You can’t operate in neutrality. It is either you are a christian or not. In all, let us allow love to prevail.