But Jesus said to them,
“Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. “But from the
beginning of creation, God made them male and female.“For this reason a man
shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they
are no longer two, but one flesh. “What therefore God has joined together let
no man separate.” Mark 10:5-9 (NASB)
Divorce is rampant, even
in the church. Divorce brings out the
worst in people as each person fights for their own interests. It is a literal rending of one person into
two people (Mark 10:7-8) and so divorce is often excruciatingly painful both
personally and as a process.
By its very design
divorce is intended to tear things apart. The couple separates property,
finances, homes, and children. In addition,
often the people seem determined to tear each other apart too. Vile, hurtful words are hurled back and forth
and it is very sad to see people who once loved each other determined to
inflict deep and lasting pain on one another.
“For I hate divorce,”
says the LORD, the God of Israel,”
Malachi 2:16 (NASB)
Yes, God hates divorce
and He hates everything that is involved with a divorce. Do you realize that when
a divorce takes place, it is because one person or sometimes both have become
involved in some aspect of idolatry? When one or both people in the marriage
have become so focused on their own wants, needs and desires that what honors
God no longer matters that is idolatrous.
Idolatry is the worship
of something or someone other than God. Idolatry of self is evident when the
focus in marriage changes from thinking of your spouse to thinking only of gratifying
self and meeting the perceived needs of yourself. Idolatry is self-worship and
when self becomes primary we see the kinds of actions I mentioned previously.
What even Christians
fail to realize, is that even in a divorce situation we are to act in a
God-honoring manner. We are to say and do things that glorify God no matter how
hateful and horrid the spouse acts toward us. This goes against the grain,
against the flesh. The flesh cries out for vindication, revenge and equity! The
flesh cannot stand the thought of being taken advantage of or being made a fool
of yet the call of Christ is that we be less concerned with our vindication
than our righteousness in Christ. Our
Lord asks us to humble ourselves the He might lift us up (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).