Divorce
People today don’t hesitate to get divorced for any reason; instead of working through their problems, they take the easy way out. Marriage is hard and can be complicated. Jesus takes a hard stand on this; here is what he says:
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. Matthew 19:8-9
Jesus reminds us that it wasn’t always the way, but because of hard hearts, Moses allowed it. He also says that if you look at someone and lust after them, you’ve already committed adultery. Let’s say that a married man or woman was having conversations with another person but never crossed the line into sexual activity; maybe they’re just texting back and forth, and their spouse was somehow able to read those messages; it then becomes obvious that at some point, there was lust involved; otherwise, those conversations would have never happened. Jesus gives the exception for the case of divorce since they’ve lusted after the other person, so they’ve already committed adultery in their heart.
I used this verse in my post from yesterday, and though Jesus points his statement at the man, it also holds for the woman:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28
I don’t care what your backwoods preacher says about this; it is obvious that if a person is being abused by their spouse, either physically or psychologically, they shouldn’t feel obligated to stay with that person because of this teaching. This sullies the teachings of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want anyone to be abused. Love is the greatest commandment, so love takes precedence; love and abuse cannot coexist.
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