Thursday, July 16, 2015

Why I am for Divorce

Until coming to college, I hadn't realized that people's opinions could vary so greatly. I knew that people were different and therefore thought differently from things of course, but it hadn't really clicked in my head that people could disagree to the point of heated discussion, and I didn't realize that I could get so upset about someone disagreeing with me on a topic that I think to be elementary. I suppose I kind of was shocked when I started school because I grew up homeschooled and did not have much exposure to different kinds of people and beliefs, and as with any child, before you form your own beliefs you first accept those of your parents, or people who look after you. I didn't start forming my own opinions strongly or realizing that I thought differently from others until college.

Recently this summer I have been exposed to several opinions of others on apparently controversial topics that I disagree with, one of them being divorce. A person who I do not wish to spend company with recently told me with a definite tone of voice that there are very few reasons for divorce. He backed himself up with bible verses. Or, rather, he said that he disagreed with divorce because of "biblical reasons".
"To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife." - 1 Corinthians 7:10-11
"31 "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'
32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." - Matthew 5:31-32
"He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”"- Matthew 19:3-12
Obviously from these passages, divorce is not ideal, and it is not what God wants. I am struggling with this topic, and I refuse to believe that what these passages are ultimately saying is that divorce is only "acceptable" when it is dealing with adultery. I have several reasons for this:

1. I CANNOT believe that God intends for someone divorced to never remarry. How does this match the character of God? So he wants us to remain unhappy for the rest of our lives, being bound by someone who does NOT honor God?
2. I CANNOT believe that God intends for us to stay with a spouse who is abusive in verbal and physical situations and appears to have no true desire to change/is not changing.
3. I REFUSE to believe that God wants us to stay with someone at the expense of others, when there is no love or God - honoring relationship. i.e children.
4. I CANNOT believe that adultery is the only reason for divorce.
This does not match the character of God. Why would he want us to stay in a relationship that isn't honoring him? Now, I am not saying that divorce should be taken lightly and seen as an "easy" escape from problems in a relationship. But if both you and the spouse have tried to solve your problem to no avail, or your spouse sees no need for remedy. IT IS TIME for a divorce. The marriage is no longer a marriage, because you are not keeping your covenant to one another, and as a result, your marriage is no longer honoring God the way marriage is supposed to.

This is what I currently believe on this topic. I will continue to pray about my opinion and ask God for answers, and to pray for my mother, who is trapped in a marriage with someone who dishonors God with seemingly everything he does, and is constantly hurting my family.

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