Message
When I was leaving for my postgraduate studies, I handed my mother over to my wife, knowing that she would take good care of her. My wife is a helpmeet indeed, and a true helpmeet is a great blessing not just to her husband but her in-laws as well. She won’t seek to compete with them or disrespect them; rather, she will help her husband by honouring his people. Nowadays, some women say that they are only married to their husbands and do not care about their in-laws. This is not right because their husbands came from a home, and as helpmeets, they have a responsibility to love their husbands’ people too.
Ruth was a wise woman. When she married Naomi’s son, she took Naomi as her mother. Her love for Naomi was so great that when her husband died, she abandoned her hometown to follow her mother-in-law to a place she had never been. She was ready to risk everything to care for her aged mother-in-law. In return, God rewarded her selflessness by giving her another home. Ruth’s service to her mother-in-law opened the door of fruitfulness to her (-4), and in the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ in , you will find her name in verse 5.
Loving in-laws is, however, not peculiar to wives alone. Husbands must also love and honour their in-laws. The fact that they have fulfilled all the necessary traditional marriage rites does not mean their wives’ parents and family members are unimportant. For example, Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law when he visited Peter’s house in . Immediately Jesus healed her, she arose and ministered to them. If she hadn't been treated well before that time, and if she wasn’t made to feel welcomed in the house, she wouldn’t have thought of serving everyone present, including her son-in-law.
If you’re married, God put you in your spouse’s family because He wants you to extend His love to them. Whether they reciprocate or not, your responsibility is to love them. No man snuffs out the little light he has because every other person is living in darkness. Instead, he makes his light shine brighter for all to see. If your inlaws don’t believe in Jesus yet, your marriage has given you the opportunity to show them the light. Ask God for the wisdom to relate with them, and in everything you do, let the love of Christ rule your heart, actions, and decisions.