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S A G E H A V E N
"God cannot be present in a family where there's no love" I stared at the congregation, hoping I was passing a message across.
My wife sat in the front row dressed in a baby pink dress that ran over her knees and a 'boat hat' with several flowers on it. I smiled at her and she returned it with one of hers. We had fallen in love at the age of twenty two and we were still going strong after twenty three years.
"Tell the person sitting next to you...God is love" I smiled as the church went rowdy. People telling their neighbor more than I had asked them to but it didn't matter.
I had dedicated half of my life to building the ministry and it was one of the biggest churches in the country.
"In a family where there is no love...there will be worry. There will be distress. If a man doesn't love his wife, they will fight. Day in, day out. Fights. If there are children in such a family, they'll learn from what they see. They might even think they're the reasons for the ruckus at home" I walked to the end of the altar and unbuttoned my suit jacket.
I was used to it. Sweating like an animal when there were over fifty air conditioners in the church hall.
I remembered when I was called by the Lord, just a day after I turned nineteen.
"You're a man...You abuse your wife all in the name of Love? You're a woman...you abuse your husband mentally, physically and emotionally and you call it love? It is not Love. Again, it is not Love!"
"First Corinthians, chapter thirteen from verse four to five, someone read it for me" I could read the verse off head, I knew the verse all too well.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs" A brown skinned woman who from what I could see had donned a long sleeved peach shirt.
"Hallelujah?" I smiled, joy filling me at the word of God.
"Amen!" the congregation called and I chuckled.
The day after I turned nineteen, I began to have strange dreams. It wasn't much, almost similar to my present position. I was a nineteen year old holding a bible and preaching to a group of people I couldn't remember when I woke up the next morning. The dream was strange at that point for me because I had never touched a bible before -my parents wouldn't let me- and I had a strong case of stage fright. I would faint in the presence of people.
"The Lord is Good?" I smiled and joy filled me at the sight of their satisfied smiles.
"All the time" a happy chorus followed.
"Based on this definition of love, the questions to ask yourself now. Number one, does God love you? These are yes or no questions. Two, Do you love yourself? And three, Do you love the people around you?" I held three fingers up and put my hand down.
"You cannot love someone else if you do not love yourself. It's a known fact" I shrugged. It was the truth and many of them who had known me for over twenty years knew that I spoke the truth as it was. Rumbles of agreement echoed through the church.
"Lear-" my brows furrowed as she walked in. My eyes glazed and my jaw almost unhinged. Her skin was brown, beautiful but her eyes were hidden by dark shades. I glanced around the congregation and I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed her.
My eyes swept to my wife who whispered to the women around her with her eyes on the brown angel but for some reason, she didn't matter.
The young lady wore a red silk wrap shirt, a pair of black ripped jeans, a pair of transparent wedges and her hair was covered by a black silk scarf, tied in a bundle just above the nape of her neck.
Her small transparent bag visibly held a lot of money, as she walked to the front like she had all the time in the word, while ushers followed behind her, probably trying to show her a place to sit.
Regardless, she clearly wasn't interested in where they wanted her to sit.
Her hips filled those jeans like they were made for her and a bit of her waist was exposed, showing me beads that danced as she moved.
Her breasts bounced and I gulped when my own thoughts hit me. Curly hairs lying flat peeked out of her scarf and hoop earrings -almost the size of my palm- hung from her ears. A jewel glistened from her nose, a nose ring hung from her left nostril.
She was everything I stood against.
Was it a temptation from the devil? It wouldn't be the first time but it would be the first time a temptation almost had me losing my mind.
The nameless angel found a seat right behind my wife who turned around to scowl at her before she turned to her friends again. She took her shades off and I gulped. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in all my forty-five -almost forty six- years of life.
"God" I whispered to myself, hating that she had easily allowed me to sin through my thoughts but I still didn't look away.
Her eyes settled on me and her red lips pulled into a smirk, one that had me believing that the devil was in fact, a woman.
A young beautiful black woman.
✨ Y'all remember what used to be the first banner?!😭😭 I miss that! I deleted it and now, I regret it. [A/N; I'm back to dropping bars!🧚🏽♀️] I've been editing Pastor Sage and lord! That book is over 60k words😂 I'm nowhere close to finishing the first editing process though. Anyways! Enjoy! -Aduke 🌹
