This would fit in either one of my blogs, because of its title. This world is so full of lies and deceit about the topic of divorce. Here's what God says about it.
"You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 'For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence.' Says the Lord of hosts. 'Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.' Malachi 2:13-16
"The Pharisees came and asked Him (Jesus), 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' testing Him. And He answered and said to them, 'What did Moses command you?' They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Mark 10:2-9
There you have it. Marriage is a covenant that is never to be broken. God hates divorce. He describes it as violence and treachery. Pretty strong terms. Jesus also says that the reason there is divorce is because people's hearts are hard.
BUT nowhere in the scriptures does it say that a person who is divorced cannot be a Christian or cannot go to heaven. Admittance into heaven is based solely on whether a person has trusted in Jesus Christ alone and His death on the cross as the payment for his sin.
On a personal note, my mother and father were divorced when I was a preschooler. He was an alcoholic. My mother was married and divorced two more times, then married a wonderful man whom she stayed with until he passed away. After that, we were looking at some pictures and talking about my dad and she made this statement: "You know, if I had it to do all over again, I never would have divorced your father."
Having said that, because one of my stepfathers was not only an alcoholic, but verbally abusive and physically abusive to my mom, sometimes divorce is the only option. God NEVER intends for a person or their children to be abused. If a person has tried counseling and tough love with no success, sometimes there just is no choice. If a person continues in an abusive situation, allowing the spouse to continue to abuse her, she is enabling her spouse to sin.
As a child of divorce, I think the best illustration I've ever heard is that divorce is like smearing two sheets of construction paper with glue, sticking them together, letting them dry, and then trying to pull them apart. It's a horrible mess.
Society lies when it says life will be better if you divorce. It won't. It will just be a different pain. And if there are children, not matter how amicable the divorce, they will be scarred for life. But they may also be like Jim and I, whose parents were divorced multiple times. Because of God's grace in our lives and our surrender and commitment of our individual lives to Him and our desire to have Him be the Head of our home, we have been married for 43 years. Only because of Him. Not because we're smart or lucky - just because of Him. He alone can heal the pain of divorce.
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