Dealing With Divorce, Part 2

Yesterday, I talked my family's history with divorce.
I know I was affected by my parents' divorce.  From the selfish side of they separated on my 17th birthday and divorced on my 18th birthday, two ruined birthdays in a row!  As well as, from the side of not trusting easily.  And understanding that although there are "two sides to an issue", the truth may not be known by either party - especially when the parties are both liars.

Mark 10:1-12
Matthew 19:1-9

1.  Marriage matters!  So pursue it!  
It is worth your attention!
Jesus emphasized the importance of it.
It matters to God.
Fortify your marriage and strengthen it.

2.  See sex as game changer, not as a harmless-hookup !
Sexual sin has long term consequences.
You are bonded in that union.
You can not actually untangle the roots of that union, once it happens.
Desire has the same roots in your heart.
Pain, hard hearts, sin abounds - without the greatest of caution!!!!!!

3.  What about the "reasons for divorce"?
Mental illness, sin, gambling, alcoholism, abuse, etc - are all grey areas for both divorce and remarriage.
Abandonment or adultery is acceptable reasoning for  divorce and remarriage.  This is the breaking of the marital vows.
 What happens to your marital status, you protect yourself, you protect your children!

4.  We need to be a lighthouse for the shipwrecked!
We are to be a place for hope and healing for all.
Lift up the sacredness of marriage.

Marriage takes two people, committed to one another in God.
God wants our marriages to flourish, not to fail. 
When one person fails, both are affected by that failure.
Divorce is but one reaction to that brokenness of ourselves and failure.
But Divorce is not an unpardonable sin, it is an action which damages us. 
God's desire is to heal us of failure and brokenness.
If you remarry, God will bless that marriage if you have and are seeking His Will.

God's grace is greater than all sin.
We all sin.
No sin is greater than another.
Some sin has long term consequences on us and others: sexual sin, divorce and murder.

Thinking back through these verses: marriage is good, failure is not desirable.  There are lots of ways a marriage can hit the rocks, these days pornography and abandonment seem to be the most common from what I have observed.  We have to be able to understand that it is not an imperative that we abandon our spouses when these things occur but rather to work through it with them - IF that is possible.  Both situations are a little hard to re-engage from!  And, if there is divorce, know that this is not God's will, but by His allowance.  Should we then remarry, one hopes we are wiser, careful and prayerful.