T.D. and Serita Jakes Celebrate 37 Years Of Marriage: 'You Are My Good Thing' | Essence (2024)

Bishop T.D. Jakes, founder of the Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, and his wife Serita Jakes, are celebrating 37 years of marriage – reminding us of what true, lasting love looks like.

The couple shared a recent photo shoot on Instagram in which they celebrated their longlasting union and the love between them that grows stronger every day.

“Babe, You are my armor, my baker, and my one true love,” Mrs. Jakes caption a photo of the two gazing at one another. “Every love story is special, unique and beautiful – but ours is my favorite. I love lifin’ it with you, but forever isn’t long enough. Happy Anniversary.⁣⁣”

Bishop Jakes celebrated his wife with a scriptural message of his own. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord,” he writes.“@SeritaJakes, you are my good thing! 💕 I am grateful that God blessed me so immensely when He gave me you! May our love grow stronger and burn brighter to the end of time. Happy 37th Anniversary!”

Their daughter, Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, celebrated her parents anniversary by thanking them for setting the standard and showing grace during the roughest of times. “Thank you each for holding my hand when the doctor told your teen daughter to push…,” she writes. “Thank you for giving that wink when Touré came in town to meet…Thank you for a lifetime of love that has shaped my world…”

T.D. and Serita Jakes met when he visited her home church in Beckley, West Virginia as a guest preacher. At the time, Bishop Jakes was only 23 years old, and his future wife was absolutely smitten by him as she watched him deliver the good word. Not long after, the pair officially met and were married in May 1982.

The couple has spoken openly about the tests they survived throughout their married. Not even a year married, the two were involved in a car accident where Mrs. Jakes sustained severe leg and foot injuries.“I prayed for her, I took care of her, I cooked for her, I washed her hair, I taught her how to walk — literally. [I] stood in front of her and said, ‘You can do this,’ and taught her to walk again,” Bishop Jakes said. “It brought us together. We have an unexplainable connection… I guess, at the core, we’re friends.”

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Bishop Jakes and his wife have five children together and a host of grandchildren.

Scroll through the gallery below to see their sweetest moments together.

01

TBT

The Jakes shared this throwback family portrait of themselves and five children. Time flies!

02

Life His Name On High

Bishop Jakes and first lady worship with their congregation.

03

2005

The Jakes’s attend ‘Julius Caesar’ Opening Night on Broadway back in 2005.

04

So In Love

The couple continues to inspire their church with gems on how to sustain a healthy marriage.

05

Family Over Everything

Bishop and First Lady pose with their children and grandchildren in this fab family portrait

06

Double Date

The Jakes’s pose with DeVon Franklin and Megan Good at the ‘Miracles From Heaven’ premiere in 2016.

07

Famous Friends

Martha Stewart, Serita Jakes and Christopher T.D. Jakes pose together a A Celebration for Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People Issue in 2005.

08

On Broadway

The couple posed with Brandy, Aretha Franklin and NaTasha Yvette Williams backstage at the Chicago musical in 2015.

09

Supporting Black Businesses

Bishop TD Jakes, Sarah Jakes and Serita Jakes mingle with Forest Whitaker at the “Black Nativity” premiere at The Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.

10

Celebrating Every Milestone

The couple couldn’t be prouder of their son Thomas Dexter at his high school graduation.