top of page

DIVORCE

Text: Matthew 5:31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clearly, God wants us to be   When He ordered us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:22), it is under the bow of marriage.  “Marriage is married.honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4).  Divorce is not in the original plan. However, due to sin, Jesus offers freedom from those encumbering their spouse. Later, Paul emphasizes pre-planning stages before a man engages a maiden (Corinthian 7:1-5).

 

Top 10 Reasons for Divorce:

1. Infidelity

Extra-marital affairs are responsible for the breakdown of most marriages that end in divorce.

 

Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

 

Jeremiah 13:27 Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean?”

 

Luke 16:18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman.

 

Duet 24:1-4          Divorce under the Mosaic law

 

Jeremiah 3:8         8"And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

 

2. Money

Dissimilar spending habits and monetary targets to one spouse making significantly more money can strain a marriage to the breaking point. Money issues can strain a marriage to the breaking point.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

 

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

3. Lack of communication

Communication is vital in a marriage. Poor communication efficiently quickly resorts to bitterness and hindrances for both, impacting every facet of a marriage. Conversely, strong communication is the groundwork for a durable marriage.  

 

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

 

Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Constant Arguing

From bickering about chores to arguing about the kids; incessant arguing kills many relationships. Marriages who seemingly offer the same argument do so because of ignorance of being heard or valued.  Ultimately, ceaseless arguing destroys too many relationships.

 

Job 15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

 

Judges 18:25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

 

5. Weight Gain

Weight gain may seem trivial and shallow or just unfair. However, studies show weight gain is a common reason for divorce. In isolated cases, a substantial expanse creates grounds for the spouse to become physically revolting. For others, the extra weight increase takes a toll on their self-confidence, which eases into problems with intimacy.

 

Esther 2:9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

 

Daniel 1:12 "Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

1 Timothy 4:8 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

 

6. Potential (or Lack Thereof)

The label of potential is hazardous. Broken promises can be the worse outcome for a spouse when their choice for marriage falls short of the projected success target.  For many, a life of prosperity is the ‘basis’ for choosing mate. When failure becomes reality (sometimes repeatedly), a spouse may choose to opt out to salvage their ability to attract another mate.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.

 

Isaiah 54:5 The Lord All-Powerful, the Holy God of Israel, rules all the earth. He is your Creator and husband, and he will rescue you.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14 Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same?

 

Ephesians 5:3 Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Lack of Intimacy

A lack of connection with your partner can rapidly decay a marriage. Lack of touching (not just sex) can be perplexing.  The cold shoulder, over time, can become the ground for divorce. Intimacy is a special gift within a marriage. Lack of intimacy can quickly ruin a marriage.

 

I Corinthians - 7 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife... 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

 

8. Lack of Parity

Who is the Worker-Bee in the relationship?  A one-sided marriage is short-lived.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

 

9. Not Ready for Marriage

In the United States, couples marrying for the first time have approximately a fifty percent chance of divorcing.  Divorce rates are highest among couples in their 30s. Almost half the divorces occur in the first 10 years of marriage; especially between the fourth and eighth anniversary (Wells, T 2011).

 

I Corinthians - 7 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

 

 

10. Abuse

Physical or emotional abuse exists over a period of years for many couples. The assailant is not always evil, rather an emotional scarring from a period before the relationship. Nevertheless, no one is to be placed within an emotional, financial. Spiritual, or physical prison.

 

 

Romans 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

 

 

Luke 6:32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4 4Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Wells, T. (2011, February 17). Couples who marry young are most likely to divorce. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8331027/Couples-who-marry-young-are-most-likely-to-divorce.html

 

 

Precious Lord - The Aerioulus
00:0000:00
bottom of page