Matthew 5:31-32 "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."
I realize there are varying interpretations of divorcement and what comprises the grounds for it. It is an emotionally charged situation filled with heartache, sorrow, and anger. Whatever your view, one thing is clear by Jesus’s words here. Divorcement is not simply a legal proceeding to afford people an “easy way out.”
Jesus tells us that there is no reason for putting away of the wife except for fornication. Fornication is defined in a variety of ways. One definition is sexual activity between unmarried parties, while another definition is sexual activity between two people not married to each other. The Greek word for fornication is also the root of the word “pornography,” and it was understood to apply to the idea or prostitution and to the idea of idolatry.
Without meaning to be harsh, dear ones, divorce was never meant to cover the notion that “I do not want to be married anymore.” Our oath to one another was to love and care for each other in the good times and the hard times. We pledged to work together. For a marriage to be successful, it takes both parties to be diligent in their fidelity to one another. We should never allow another person, or hobby, or job, or social standing to become more important than our pledge of faithfulness to our spouse.
Now, what about our pledge of faithfulness to God? When we presented ourselves before the Lord’s people for membership into the congregation, we were making an oath to be faithful to Jesus and His Bride. We were acknowledging publicly that the Lord had added us to His Church. This was our first step on a path that was going to require effort on our part to keep ourselves from turning our affections to the things of the world.
Dear ones, loving and serving God is no small matter. Our union between husband and wife as well as declaring our love for Jesus is a pledge made before God. Giving the love that belongs to our spouse, and more especially to our Savior, to another is sure to bring sorrow. Let us be determined every day to be faithful to God in all things!