One Flesh

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 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?"
4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' [a] 5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' [b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
7 "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
Matthew 19:1-9



Jesus touches on one of my favorite topics since it is applicable to so many people today. I pulled the following information this morning from divorce rate.org: “50% of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.” Staying married to your spouse is a commitment, it is a matter of the heart and it is no wonder that the percentages increase after the 1st and 2nd divorce as there is one commonality in every consecutive divorce and that is the divorced person who thought that the problem with their marriage couldn’t possibly have anything to do with them. Please listen, God loves you just as much if you have been married for 50 years or if you are on your 6th spouse in 10 years. However, he designed the covenant of marriage to be an incredible gift of love and a union that is representative of the union that you have with Christ both today and in the age to come when it will be even better as Christ returns and the brokenness of this world is destroyed once and for all. Prior to considering a decision that will add to the percentages above, please heed Jesus’ advice and have a look on the inside at your own heart and let the healing and restoration of Jesus Christ living in you soften your heart and give you the power to love your spouse unconditionally as Jesus loves you. You will be surprised how your perspective on marriage will change as you rely on His power and rest in His amazing love.