Christian Divorces

Since fifty percent of marriages end in divorce this topic is imperative to society standards today. However, what is substandard is how divorces are dealt with in a Christian home. How do you apply Christian principles to worldly principles? Many branches of Christianity believe that divorce is not even an option; it is believed that whatever the problem is, it can be worked out.  This is true to a certain instance because II Corinthians 7:14 tells us that an unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, but if the relationship hinders our walk with God we have to choose between bondage or freedom.

We serve a God that is able to free us from any bonded situation. Sometimes people are put into our lives for reasons as well as seasons. If you are a person encompassed with sins and marry a person of the world, that person may be right for us at that point in your life. However, when the Lord deals with us and draw us to him, our perspectives on decisions begins to change and our discernment becomes keen to sift through worldly situations. Our minds become one with Christ and the things our flesh finds amusing becomes enemy to our spirit. Then it becomes easy for the spouse that we chose in our sins to become offensive to us. Their lifestyle may also become offensive to us as well and this can eventually endanger our Christian walk.  Matthew 5:29-30 states, “ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast if from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offends thee cut it off, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell”.  

The word of God is a sword that is able to divide these precious members from us so that they won’t be dead weights. This is the part of Christianity that becomes so hard for many because they feel they can continue to hold on to the world while serving God. You cannot serve two masters, its either you love one and hate the other. Take Lot’s wife for an example, her attachment to the world caused her to look back and be disobedient to the will of God; this in turn caused her to turn to a pillar of salt, the type of salt that had no flavor and was only useful to be trodden under the foot of man. Our Lord makes it very clear when he gave the commandment that we should love him with all our hearts, all our soul and all our might because if we love God we will trust him even when those precious members are severed from us. If we loved him in this manner then when he makes that separation it wont hurt because it would be the cutting away of bondage. Jesus stated in Matthew 10:36, “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household”. He goes on to state in verse 34, “think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”.

We have to realize as Christians that things don’t get easier for our flesh when we decide to serve Christ, it get harder because we crucify ourselves with him and take up our own crosses. People that we used to be friends with, we find ourselves distancing ourselves from them and the places we used to go, we lose interest in being at those places; we become new creatures with a new mind and new insight. This allows us to distance ourselves from our past. How much sense does it make that we cut everybody and everything around us away and keep the main enemy who are in our household under our bosom? Old wine should not be placed in new bottles because it would cause it to burst (or offend) Matthew 9:17.   What fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness and what communion does light have with darkness? (II Corinthians 6:14)   These are things that we need to ponder upon as Christians when looking at the topic of divorce. Allow the word of God to be your guide and not be guided by emotions. Pray my strength in the Lord.