Marital Faithfulness

Steve Klein
03/10/19 - Marriage and Family

A recent report revealed that "thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married?" For years we've preached against and bemoaned the high rate of divorce in this country. But divorce doesn't just happen. There are any number of attitudes and actions that lead up to it. Wrong attitudes toward God, toward spouses, and toward the institution of marriage itself lead to foolish and harmful actions that destroy homes and condemn souls.

God created the institution of marriage. It is He who joins man and woman together in the bonds of matrimony, and He intends for them to stay that way until separated by death (Romans 7:2). Jesus said that man is not to separate what God has joined together (Matthew 19:6). In Malachi 2:16, God literally says that He "hates divorce." Any married person with an ounce of respect for God and His will, will not take out a personal ad for a date or engage in any other activity that could lead to a divorce. It's a matter of having the right attitude toward God.

It is also a matter of having the right attitude toward one's spouse. Spouses are to be loved, honored and cherished. A husband who is enraptured with the love of his spouse will not "be enraptured by an immoral woman" (Proverbs 5:19-20). He will honor his wife as the weaker vessel, and cherish her as he does his own flesh (1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 5:28-29). The wife who loves her husband will "see that she respects" him (Ephesians 6:23). "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones" (Proverbs 12:4). This mutual love and respect between marriage partners leaves no room for activities which bring pain, shame and dishonor to one's spouse. Simply put, divorce and its painful consequences are often the result of being unfaithful to God and to one's spouse.