Matthew 19:3-9
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
God takes marriage very seriously. He considers it to be a covenant relationship, where "the two shall become one flesh" (verse 5). Unfortunately we often take a more casual approach to marriage and relationships, not recognizing the true calling of marriage and high cost of divorce. Jesus says very bluntly, "what therefore God has joined together, let not man separate" (verse 6). One of the striking things about this verse is that it is God who brings people together in marriage. It is not just our own choice. This is one of the foundational issues underlying many of our modern moral dilemmas: the conflict between personal choice and God's authority. If it is just a choice, then whether we stay or leave is also our choice, but if it is orchestrated by God, then we need God's perspective. In the next verses Jesus lists unfaithfulness as a reason for divorce, which shows the importance of faithfulness to God. In a sense, marriage is a contract between two people, and we should never break that contract. But if the other partner breaks it, then we are freed from the obligations of the contract.
God, help me to be faithful to my wife.
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
God takes marriage very seriously. He considers it to be a covenant relationship, where "the two shall become one flesh" (verse 5). Unfortunately we often take a more casual approach to marriage and relationships, not recognizing the true calling of marriage and high cost of divorce. Jesus says very bluntly, "what therefore God has joined together, let not man separate" (verse 6). One of the striking things about this verse is that it is God who brings people together in marriage. It is not just our own choice. This is one of the foundational issues underlying many of our modern moral dilemmas: the conflict between personal choice and God's authority. If it is just a choice, then whether we stay or leave is also our choice, but if it is orchestrated by God, then we need God's perspective. In the next verses Jesus lists unfaithfulness as a reason for divorce, which shows the importance of faithfulness to God. In a sense, marriage is a contract between two people, and we should never break that contract. But if the other partner breaks it, then we are freed from the obligations of the contract.
God, help me to be faithful to my wife.