In celebration of marriage week, Famsa, decided to focus on ambassadors who are an example of marriages and the Ridge Times will feature one couple each week for the rest of September.
Hein van Heerden, pastor of the Lighthouse Church in Secunda, and his wife, Mignonette, shared their thoughts on marriage with Famsa and the Ridge Times.
“I believe the answer to a loving and successful marriage has its roots in the very core of this institution,” said Pastor Van Heerden.
“And that core is the heart of God.
“From the very beginning God intended for a man and a women to become one, and that has never changed over time.
“When we honour that, there can be an expectation of a healthy marriage.
“As I look around at what marriage has become, and how easy it has become to bring divorce into relationships, I realise that the pillars on which marriages are built in many cases, lacked certain things.
“There are three pillars that a marriage should be build on and these things are faith, feelings and physicality.
“The value system of a husband and a wife needs to align before marriage in order for them to truly know each other.
“From there, healthy feelings will develop instead of a desire for the physical which can never last forever as a foundation.
“And once you walked down the aisle and made a promise before God and witnesses to love each other through all the things mentioned, the physical part of becoming one will develop.
“Physical attraction and selfish gain is not what your marriage should be built on, but a deeply rooted love for who the other person is with a heart willing to sacrifice.
“I look at my wife, many years after marrying her, and can confidently say that when I said: ‘I choose you’, which is the theme for the 2024 celebration week, I chose her for the right reasons, and that made our relationship grow stronger each year.”
