Is There Hope for Failing Marriages?

The statistics are staggering on the topic of marriages ending in divorce. It is actually estimated that one in every two marriages will end in divorce! And although we may want to claim that Christians must have a lower percentage or divorce, this just isn't the case. We often see non Christians and Christians a like following suit on the issue. It comes down to todays values and lack of morals. We live in a "it's all about me" world where we often cling to our selfish rights and demand that we deserve better, while filling ourselves with so much pride and believe the lie that we can find happiness apart from God. To top it off, the church is becoming more and more silent of the issue of marriage because they fear offending listening ears, so instead the tickle the ears of the congregation making sure everyone is happy and no one walks away feeling convicted or even spiritually enlightened.

2 Timothy 4:3-4(Amplified Bible) For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

Not only do we suffer from a fallen world, but the church is becoming more worldly in many areas of it's teaching. Partly because the Pastor himself may have been divorced and remarried, so how could he uphold the very teaching of God's word when the life he lives goes against it. Even some influencial pastors on Christian television are afraid to address these issues because of their own lifestyle. We should be able to find safety in the walls of the church, but instead we may find nothing more then the advise and council we would receive in the secular world.

Now, in my speaking of "the church" please understand I am referring to the ways of many of the Christian churches today are failing to teach real wholesome truths. This is not to say all churches fall into this category at all. There are many wonderful Christian Churches that do just what has been instructed in the bible to preach, and the lives of the pastor, deacons and members, portray lifestyles pleasing to the Lord.

The truth is with divorce rates what they are, pat ors may feel intimidated teaching about the covenant of marriage. But the more it is swept under the rug, the more rampant the statics climb. As a matter of fact, with so many broken marriages today, it's hard to find a good example for newlyweds to look up to. Being married at a young age, I can attest to the difficulties I wasn't prepared to face because no where in sight was a healthy marriage. I wasn't wasn't raised with both my parents in the home, nor was my husband. And because we were young when we married, our friends weren't a good support source for advise. We would find that many of our friends didn't see marriage as any thing other than dating and living together with a paper that allows a woman to change her last name. Well, with that view, marriage itself is thrown in a meaningless definition that requires no work, all play and when it gets hard, just bail attitude. And television surely doesn't speak of the covenant of marriage. Leaving newlyweds today unable to arm themselves for the battle of truly fighting for their marriage.

There is a reason why our vows state for better or worse, why it says in sickness and health, for richer or poorer. It's because marriage will face hard times, it won't be easy and the amount of pressure can be almost unbearable. A lifetime together isn't always going to be easy, but it certainly is worth fighting for. It is God who created marriages to last, made male and female and made them one, it is God who instituted the family. So it is for God that we should hold up our vows for and say no matter what, I am staying true to my vows.

Matthew 19:4-6 (New International Version) "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

If your marriage seems like it's dead, never to survive again, even after separation or divorce; it can be saved. it can be restored and put back together. I will be writing more on marriage restoration in the coming weeks, talking about just that. For more information on marriage restoration, saving your marriage, or to find out about what God says about marriage, remarriage and divorce, please check out Faith and Marriage Ministries.

Malachi 2:13-16 (New International Version) Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.