The Bible recommends that you follow those who have obtained what you are striving to obtain. These are those who are examples, whom you respect, who have the kind of testimonies you desire. One of the recommended ways is going through the materials of others’ life story.
Proven ways to learn and make a difference in your family today.
- Study and Learn from Biographies: The Bible says: “Now all these things happened unto them for example: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world’s are come” (1 Cor. 10:11). One major way of being “Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” is through their biographies. These could be in form of a printed book, an electronic book, audio recording or video. A biography is the life story of a person written by someone else. As a wife, it is important for you to learn to study the biographies of others; especially wives who have excelled and thus have inherited the promises.
Why biographies?
They provide examples to learn from because the secrets of men are in their stories. You must understand the secret of learning from examples if you want to get to God’s destination for your life. History has a way of always repeating itself – negatively or positively. There are biblical and contemporary biographies for you to learn from. The Bible is full of stories of those who lost out of their destinies and those who made full proof of it. A few of them include: Gehazi, Elisha’s servant and heir apparent to the great unction and anointing upon Elisha’s life and ministry. Unfortunately, he lost it all to covetousness (2 Kings 5:20-27). Instead of becoming an anointed minister, he ended up as a notable leper.
Judas was one Jesus’ twelve disciples. Like the others, he walked and dined with the Lord, but ended up betraying him due to covetousness (Matt. 26:14-16). He did not only end up a loser on earth, but he will also spend eternity in hell because he did not repent before taking his own life. He ended in shame.
Delilah – in Judges 16: 1-21, the Bible gives record of a lady that could have married God’s servant and probably become one of the most referenced wives. But she gave in to covetousness and sexual sin. She became an instrument in the hands of the devil and she was not spared. She died alongside those that sent her.
David, the man after God’s heart: “with his whole heart he danced for the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:14). He was a generous giver. He single-handedly provided all that was needed for the building of the temple. Due to his constant enquiry from God, he never lost any battle. When he was caught up in sin, he cried out for help and he was forgiven (2 Samuel 12:13). He maintained his position in the heart of God, and God established his throne forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
When you study the lives of those who have gone ahead of you, you will be able to learn from them and avoid their pitfalls. In our contemporary world today, there are examples of men and women that are worth emulating. Find out about successful ministries and their wives, look out for their secrets, follow these secrets and you will become the next success story. You can’t become a story until you acquaint yourself with the stories of others who have obtained a good report. “Those who don’t have references, never become a reference.” This is true! One tree never makes a forest. Every man that is now a reference has had to identify with several references of men at some point. The Bible says, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him” Isaiah 51:1-2. As you look unto God, the rock from whence ye are hewn, you are also to look unto your father Abraham. You are not to look only unto God but also unto the fathers who have gone ahead of us in the race. As you look at their lives, you are able to interpret the scriptures correctly and to see farther. Wisdom demands that you stand on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead of you, and their stories are invaluable assets in achieving yours. Your place will only be secured by the degree of illumination you carry. Time is precious and it is irrecoverable. Instructions are the pathways of wisdom. As you study the lives of those who have already inherited the promises, it becomes easy to wisely avoid mistakes that they made and pick instructions from what they did right.
Please be aware: you must be discreet enough not to take everything you read or hear hook, line and sinker, rather apply wisdom in knowing what to learn and what to unlearn by avoiding their mistakes. I personally take delight in reading biographies of ministers and ministers’ wives, especially those who have been in full time pulpit preaching ministry. For instance, I have read books written by and the biographies of great men and women of God like Pastor (Mrs.) Folu Adeboye, late Pastor (Mrs.) Bimbo Odukoya among others. Remember, for you to see brighter, you need the shoulders of those who have gone before you. One major way of doing this is by reading their biographies. You can take advantage of this truth.
