Daily Devotion 

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” – Matthew 5:31-32

For a long time in the U.S., the divorce rate was increasing. Between infidelity, no-fault divorces, and a general loss of reverence for the institution of marriage, people had less and less of a problem divorcing. People were taking the life-long commitment of marriage less and less seriously.

Then over the last 20 years or so, the divorce rate compared to the population started to drop. According to the CDC, we went from

• 4 divorces per 1000 people in the year 2000
• to 3.2 divorces per 1000 people in 2016

That sounds good at first until you see that during that same time period we se the marriage rate dropped from

• 8.2 (in 2000)
• to 6.9 (2016)

Fewer people are getting married in the first place. We’ve gone from not taking the commitment as seriously to not bothering to make the commitment in the first place.

In our passage for today, we see Jesus re-emphasizing the seriousness of divorce…or maybe it would be better to say the seriousness of the commitment of marriage.

Marriage isn’t meant to be entered and exited easily or lightly…it’s not meant to be exited at all. Later, in Matthew 19, Jesus says divorce was not meant to be at all but was a concession by God due to the hard hearts of the Israelite people.

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 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.” – Matthew 19:4-8

Marriage is meant to be a life-long commitment.

Sin makes that difficult. Love and forgiveness make it possible. That love and forgiveness we show are an extension of the love and forgiveness we receive from God through Jesus.

The Church: The Bride of Christ
Throughout the Bible, God uses marriage as an analogy for His relationship with His people, whether Israel or the church. Here, too, sin is a problem. Here, too, love and forgiveness is the answer; not our love and forgiveness, but God’s.

We constantly struggle with our faithfulness and fail repeatedly, but God is faithful. His love never fails. His forgiveness overcomes our failures. Where we continue to dirty our white wedding garment, Jesus blood continues to wash it white as new.

For those of you who are married (or will be one day), I pray that God will bless your marriage with love and forgiveness. You will have struggles, but love covers a multitude of sins.

For those who have divorced, there is forgiveness, grace, and healing in Christ where needed.

For all of us, married or single, I pray that we will always turn to Jesus, confessing our sinfulness, knowing that He will always be faithful. His love is forever.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Please be with all who are married. Help them to love one another as Jesus has loved them. When they sin against or hurt each other, help them to forgive each other. Please also be with those who are divorced. Forgive them where needed and heal them. Please also be with those who are unmarried, but wish to have a spouse. Give them patience and contentment and provide the loving relationship they desire according to Your will. Please also move in our churches and our American culture, to once again cherish the gift of marriage.

Amen.

If you married, tell your spouse you love them and, where needed, forgive them.