A4P Guest: I’m a 32 year-old married man. Before I got married, I was seeing one Christian girl. I was very much in love with her and all. Then I met my high school classmate on Facebook and began chatting with her. I had a crush on her when we were in 11th grade. Other than that, there was nothing between us. Then before I knew it, I began spending more time with this girl on Facebook than with my girlfriend. Then, to make a long story short, I lost interest in pursuing my girlfriend and continued my relationship virtually with my high school classmate and decided to marry her. At the time, she was living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and I brought her here to the US. We are now expecting our first child. The problem is, to my surprise, I am realizing that I’m not actually in love with my wife but with my ex-girlfriend. I can’t stop myself from thinking about my ex. I can’t take her out of my mind. She is a strong Christian. While we were dating, she didn’t even let me touch her body let alone sleep with her. My wife, the first day she came from Addis Ababa, she was willing to sleep with me. We were not married. I felt guilty about it but she didn’t feel a thing. I constantly think about my ex-girlfriend’s devotion to Christ and sincere faith. She influenced my walk as a Christian. Continue reading “I Let Go the Girl I love”
Category Archives: Marriage
Happy Father’s Day!
When our daughter was a little girl, around three or four years old, the most exciting day for her was anytime I braided her hair differently than usual. She would look at herself in the mirror, and while admiring her beauty, ask: “Do you think my dad will recognize me?” I always responded, “I doubt it.”
Values are Caught, Not Taught
Parenting is not an easy task, especially today. Just like everybody else, I also struggle to raise my kids. I want my kids to turn out to be God-fearing and other respecting citizens. Continue reading Values are Caught, Not Taught
“Don’t I have a biblical ground for divorce?”
A4P Guest: I heard you saying many times and read on many of your posts that looking at a woman lustfully is like committing adultery. Am I right?
A4P: First, I didn’t say that; Jesus did in Matthew 5:28
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
And second, Jesus didn’t say, “looking at a woman lustfully is LIKE committing adultery.” He said, “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully HAS ALREADY committed adultery with her in his heart.” (capitalization is added emphasis)
A4P Guest: Okay, Jesus said it and I heard you quoting Him many times.
A4P: Correct.
Continue reading “Don’t I have a biblical ground for divorce?”
Good Marriages Don’t Just Happen by Accident
Praise God! I had a wonderful time this past weekend with wonderful people of God in Lancaster, PA.
As I always do, before I say anything, I would like to say “Thank you” to those people who made this conference possible and my stay in Lancaster a very interesting one.
Continue reading Good Marriages Don’t Just Happen by Accident
Marriage Is Not; Rather Marriage Is
There are a number of things in life we unconsciously accept as an absolute truth while they are not true at all. These things are collectively called as myths.
I don’t think anyone of us, in one way or another, are immune from believing/accepting “myths” as truth at one point of our lives.
My Anniversary Greetings to My husband
It came to my attention that my recent 19th wedding anniversary message I made to my husband in London was not actually uploaded on the Appeal for Purity (A4P) YouTube channel and because it wasn’t uploaded on YouTube, many people didn’t get a chance to see it.
Well, it is uploaded now.
When A Wife is Called to a Ministry
Listen to a clip from the interview I gave to one of the Elshaddai TV shows. For those who can’t understand Amharic, this is what I’m saying:
The Bible says, “- – – the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” (ESV) (1 Corinthians 11:3)
“But he calls and texts me all the time”
With a female voice, “Hi Berhan, I just call to say hi and to wish you a happy Easter” was a voice message I found on my answering machine right after I celebrated my first year wedding anniversary. (This was in 1998 – no smartphone, no Facebook, no social media, no nothing.)
Looking for That Perfect Season of Life
After we had our three kids, my prayer time got shorter and shorter and kind of disappeared in thin air. When the Holy Spirit comes and whispers in my ears saying, “Why don’t you pray now?” I will immediately say, “I’m not able to; can’t You see?” And the Holy Spirit asks, “Why can’t you?” I will say, “The children You gave me take all my time and energy and I have no strength left to pray and read the Word.” In a way, I was saying to Him, “If it was not for my children, I would have been praying and worshiping You; but since they are here, sorry, I can’t do that.”