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Christ's Role In Leaving A Dysfunctional Relationship
Managed by pastor and teacher Sheila R. Vitale, Living Epistles Ministries was established in 1988 as a teaching ministry in Port Jefferson Station, New York. Now including lending libraries on three different continents, Living Epistles Ministries (LEM) also maintains a range of free online resources, including transcriptions of various LEM audio messages.
Life and Culture transcriptions have been sourced from Pastor Vitale’s words on personal relationships and modern Western culture. In audio transcription 135, for example, she discusses the role of Jesus Christ within a dysfunctional family.
The message explores a few of the complex reasons, other than love, that motivate individuals to get married, such as a fear of loneliness and societal pressures. Such reasons can result in a relationship defined by a fear of intimacy and the inability to bare one’s soul in front of the other. Because every cause has an effect, the unhealthy, dysfunctional nature of such a union is destined to impact the entire family.
In the worst situations, the fear of intimacy is shared with the children, ensuring another generation of dysfunction. In more positive cases, many individuals who extricate themselves from dysfunctional relationships will need to seek re-education in regard to healthily engaging with (and ultimately loving) other people. Christ plays an integral role in that journey, particularly when it comes to reaffirming one's godliness. That said, Pastor Vitale made sure to highlight the fact that simply being “received [by Jesus]” is not an immediate cure-all for intimacy issues and other problems stemming from past relationships.
To read the entire audio transcription, please visit LEM online at www.livingepistles.org.
