HOPE TRIUMPHS

WHEN A MARRIAGE BREAKS DOWN

Divorce has become easy but it is never easy. Image credit: RDNE STOCK PROJECT on Pexels.

By REVEREND TONY ZEKVELD

Some of the most heart wrenching situations I deal with are when a marriage is about to break down.

Divorce has become easy but it is never easy. Divorce can be more painful than death. It often leaves one feeling abandoned, confused and stripped of all dignity.

Marriages are dying. By marriage I mean marriage of one man and one woman until death do them part. This is not a man-made definition. God made marriage this way from the very beginning.

The greater problem is our rebellion against God. That’s why marriages are dying. Divorce rates are high. Though some may say divorce rates are lower than twenty years ago, the reality is that fewer people are getting married. Marriage is on the decline. So naturally divorce rates will be lower.

In addition, many people are afraid to get married, especially girls. There is fear of mistreatment, abuse and even violence. Many guys are addicted to pornography; viewing women perversely, in an undignified, and degraded way. They are not ready for marriage.

I know a young man who was recently engaged to a young girl. The girl’s father gave him permission to marry her as long as he doesn’t abuse her. This is the concern of every loving father who has a daughter. In marriage, after all, the father is giving away his daughter to a man and together as husband and wife they form a new family unit.

Marriage is about dying. The reason marriages are dying is because people no longer see that marriage is about dying. It’s about dying to yourself and giving yourself to the other. That’s what true love is; giving yourself away to the other. It is sacrificing oneself for the other. We’ve forgotten this. We no longer know what commitment in marriage means. This is what real commitment involves.

The power to die to self comes from Jesus alone and by turning to Him. In the Bible, the relationship of husband and wife is patterned after the relationship between Christ and His church. He gave Himself for His church by dying for her sins. He bought her with a price, with His blood. Such love enables her to trust and love Him, never needing to doubt His love.

Marriage is about dying. Jesus is the answer to saving marriage as God intended it!