Wisdom: God hates divorce; Satan hates marriage

By Tope Banso
“For I hate divorce!’ says the LORD, the God of Israel. ‘It is as cruel as putting on a victim’s bloodstained coat,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife’” (Malachi 2:16 New Living Translation).
Satan hates marriage! Perhaps, that’s why immediately after the marriage of Adam and Eve, in Genesis 2, the next event recorded in chapter 3 is the temptation of Eve and the subsequent fall of man.
You must know that the devil hates marriage, especially yours! He wants you to divorce your spouse, even if you’ve been married for forty years!
The devil sees couples who live together peacefully as threats to him; they can achieve a lot. Therefore, he fights marriages and causes confusion. That’s why couples should resolve their differences quickly and resist the devil.
Malachi 2:16 says, “For I hate divorce!’ says the LORD, the God of Israel. ‘It is as cruel as putting on a victim’s bloodstained coat,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife’” (New Living Translation). Unfortunately, today, many people love what the LORD hates: divorce.
They file for divorce for different reasons. However, there’s no marriage that doesn’t have its own challenges, including the ones you’re envious of! There’s no perfect marriage, not even the one where God personally brought Eve to Adam! Eve sinned, and made Adam sin, but that didn’t exonerate him (Genesis 3). Adam didn’t divorce Eve because of that!
Neither the husband nor the wife is perfect. If couples resolve that divorce is not an option for them, they’ll overcome every challenge and enjoy their marriages. But where divorce is seen as an option, and there is hardness of heart, divorce is inevitable.
Jesus gave sexual immorality as the only condition for divorce (Matthew 19:9). But it can be forgiven. It is not an unpardonable sin, like the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). Couples can forgive and reconcile, if the guilty spouse shows genuine repentance.
However, divorce is inevitable where either of the couple is working towards it by his/her wrong behaviour and wants it. The two could be guilty of this. No spouse can force his/her partner to stay in a marriage. The two of them must be committed to live together peacefully. God wants marriage to be for life (Matthew 19:6).
Debunking the myth of incompatible marriage, Ruth, wife of Billy Graham, said, before she got married, someone gave her a gem of wisdom: “Where two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.” They were married for 63 years! Billy Graham said they didn’t have a perfect marriage but a great one. Referring to a married couple he read about, he said, being “Happily incompatible” is a good adjustment.
You can be “happily incompatible” if you’re married! Perfection in marriage is an illusion. Follow God’s instructions. Be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Prayerfully, work out your marriage with your spouse.
PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to make the necessary adjustment that will make my marriage a great one.
This is wisdom for living, and it’s worth sharing. Please share.
(For more inspiring messages, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
▪ Banso, an Abuja-based minister can be reached at Cedar Ministry International; cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com
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