A wife must not leave her husband.  But if she does leave let her remain single or be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11

“Just divorce the jerk!” we’re often tempted to say to women stuck with bad boys. “Dump her!” guys want to tell their henpecked buddies. Divorce seems so right when one spouse is clearly in the wrong. It has become our go-to solution when marriage doesn’t turn out to be one long honeymoon. If God wants us to be happy, and marriage is not making us happy, then surly He agrees with our solution, right? Maybe not. If you’re fine with making up your own rules, then you should probably stop reading right here. But if you’re pursuing God with all your heart, and you want to know what He says about it, read on.

Why would God put such a huge Stop sign in the Bible when it comes to our options about marriage? That verse, and others like it, make God’s desires very clear. He invented marriage and He likes it. In fact, Malachi 2:14 says that God is present when a man and woman say their vows to each other. He wants us to understand how sacred those vows are because He vows things to us. We vow things to Him. If we throw away our marriage vows, we’ll have a harder time keeping our vows to Him. But He keeps His vows to us—even when we give Him reasons to divorce us. He wants to use the rough places in our marriages like a rock tumbler, to knock the jagged edges off our character. Keeping marriage vows helps make us like Jesus.

Final Thought:  Do your beliefs about divorce come from God, culture, or from your own opinions?

Prayer: Father, it is growing harder to base my values on your word rather than culture, but that’s where truth is. Your truth doesn’t change. If I plan to follow you, my values need to line up with your word, even about divorce. In Jesus’ name, Amen.