Twenty-First Century Challenges for Sustainable Christian Marital Relationships in the Nigerian Context

Post-Marital Counselling as a Pastoral Care Recipe

Abstract

This article asks why a hitherto perceived sweet, glowing, and romantic marital relationship between a Christian husband and a Christian wife can suddenly turn sour or bitter. Sometimes such an expected sweet and romantic relationship goes into limbo and ends up in dissatisfaction, disappointment, disenfranchisement, physical and emotional abuse, and, in a worse scenario, separation and, sometimes, divorce because of the activities of certain intruders. This article contends that certain intruders are encroaching on the sustainability of the Christian marital relationship. It argues that many of these intruders will be greatly minimised where pastoral caregivers provide space by placing a great premium on effective premarital counselling, and more importantly, post-marital counselling within at least the first two years of marriage. It concludes that when this missing gap is appropriately filled in, it will facilitate the commitment of the couple to each other and motivate a progressive dedication to faith by both partners. In this way, a sustainable and harmonious Christian marital relationship can be achieved, which will enhance the quality of the spiritual health of the Christian community with a spill-over to the general society.