"For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." Matthew 24:39.
Jesus said in the last days that marriage will consume the minds of many. Marriage has become some sort of idol to many. Many think that marriage will solve their lives' problems. But, with the increased idolatry of marriage has come increased divorces.
Many are getting married just to get divorced.
Divorce is on the increase because people don't understand what marriage is. People don't understand the nature of marriage. In order to understanding something, it is important to understand the mind of its author. God made marriage and marriage is about God. God is love and marriage is about the development of the love of God in our hearts.
Love is other-centered. It is the desire to seek to please someone else. Marriage is about pleasing another as they please you.
Divorces are on the increase, because many rush into a marriage hoping that the other person will make them the center of their lives as they sit back and enjoy love. Marriage is a graveyard ⚰. Marriage is where selfishness goes to die. Divorces are on the increase because many go into a marriage and refuse to allow self to die. They want things to go "my way or the highway". They soon take the highway of divorce. Selfishness destroys marriage and lead to divorce.
What's another cause for divorce?
A hardened heart.
What's a hardened heart?
A heart without the love of God,
A heart without the Spirit of God.
Divorce is always an option when our hearts are hardened with coldness.
It is a selfish heart
An unforgiving heart
A sinful heart.
The pharisees came to Jesus and asked Him If a man can divorce his wife for any reason? Jesus basically said "no!". The pharisees then asked why did Moses command to give a writing of divorce?
Jesus answered in Matthew 19: 8, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."
Because Moses knew we were evil, he permitted us to divorce our spouses so we don't kill each other in the home.
How does God feel about divorce?
Does God love divorce ?
"For I hate divorce," says the Lord, the God of Israel." He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence," says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith. Malachi 2: 16
In short, God hates divorce. Divorce is an act of hatred, of violence. To make a public vow to someone, to say until death do us apart and then to break that vow is a criminal act in the eyes of the Lord.
What happens if I marry a divorced person ?
Matthew 19: 9, "and I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commit adultery: and whoso marry her which is put away does commit adultery."
Jesus only allow one reason for divorce. And it is only if the person cheats on you sexually. You must have solid proofs, not assumptions. To validate a claim, the Bible requires 2 or 3 witnesses. If I divorce my spouse for any other reason and marry someone else, I would be committing adultery. And if I married someone who was divorced because they cheated, that is also committing adultery.
Adultery is rampant in the world and in the church. People get married today and tomorrow are divorced.
They blame each other and think their cause is just, but the Bible show us that divorce is the result of a hardened heart. The fact that divorce is widespread in the church reveals that the hearts of many in the church are cold, many in the church are deprived of the Spirit of God.
We rush into marriage without understanding, without counsel, without the guidance of God and soon we see divorce as the only way out.
The further the church and society go from God, the more divorce will be on the increase.
So what's the solution to the divorce pandemic?
1. Understanding that marriage is about God.
2. Don't make marriage an idol.
3. Choose a spouse wisely and with prayer
4. Allow the self to die in marriage
5. Ask God to transform my hard heart
6. Pray for a heart of love, compassion and forebearance
7. Once you are married, with the help of God, you must do whatever it takes to stay married.
8. Pray together, seek counseling
9. Let the word divorce never enter into your vocabulary.
Divorce is evil, divorce is violence! Pray that the Lord may transform our hearts, may He remove the heart of stone and give us a heart of love.
Pray that in your marriage the character of Christ will be revealed.
Pray that you will be a husband who crucifies self for your wife and wife pray that you are a wife who crucifies self for your husband.
As marriage and divorces are on the increase, let us pray to God that our marriages will last and the only divorce we will experience is the divorce with selfishness. Marriage is serious business, do not rush into it and if in one, do not abandon it. Watch and pray, be like Christ .
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