Matthew 19:3, 6 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
“So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

The historical context of this exchange sounds very contemporary. There was a group of “Bible scholars” who contended that Moses’ provision for divorce allowed them to discard their wives for something as trivial as burning a meal. (Actually, that is literally Muslim practice today, and the husband simply saying, “I divorce you,” three times to his wife is sufficient to enact the divorce. It is a mystery to me why any women are Muslim!) Jesus obviously came down firmly on the other side of this argument. This is extremely applicable today, not only because of the encroachment of Sharia law into non-Muslim countries, but because of such things as “no fault divorce” in countries like the US. When divorce can be trivialized to the point of being called “amicable,” marriage has lost much of its meaning in society. That’s the only reason homosexual “marriage” has any traction at all. When marriage is considered from a Biblical standpoint, anything as absurd as that is out of the question. The current turmoil in US society didn’t start with the homosexual “movement,” it started with the general breakdown of morality, greatly accelerated by the counter-cultural movement of the ’60s and ’70s. God didn’t tell Adam and Eve to get together because it would feel good, He did so because He knew each needed the other for completion, that only as a couple would they have the balance they needed to be all He intended them to be. This isn’t to put down singles, because Jesus covered that issue right after this, but it is to say that lifelong heterosexual marriage is the norm that God established for mankind, and we deny that to our peril.

This is an issue I deal with frequently, not simply because I do counseling with the couples whose weddings I perform, but because I’m in a greatly blessed, faithfully monogamous marriage that is approaching the 43 year mark. Most of the couples I counsel have no Christian background at all (Christians get married in their own churches, rather than in a “wedding chapel.”) and it seems to be something of a shock to some of them when I explain the Biblical basis for marriage. However, I’m happy to say that there is a low divorce rate for couples I marry! Sadly, that rate is not zero, but there will always be people who are so self-centered they can’t see how they are hurting themselves by failing to be faithful to their spouse. I am to be faithful to proclaim God’s truth, and trust Him to work it into people’s hearts and lives for their blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You for the righteous example my parents and Cathy’s parents set for us, and for how marvelously You have blessed us in following their example. I pray that we would lead and encourage many more to discard the lies of the devil and walk in the blessing You intend for them, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!