Today, divorce rates are through the roof. Studies have shown that 25% of adults have had at least one divorce in their lifetime. For Christians, divorce is to be a last resort.
In Matthew 19, Jesus says “a man shall leave his family and cleave to his wife becoming one flesh. What God has joined together let no man separate.” Many believe that the only ground for Christians to divorce is if one commits adultery. The fact is that there is no place in the bible where Jesus or God say that adultery is the only just cause for divorce. In fact, in 1 Corinthians, you will read that the abandonment of a Christian spouse by a non-Christian spouse is a just cause for a divorce.
Christians are to seek reconciliation, restoration, and then are to forgive. If one spouse wants to do this, but the other does not, then these terms can be seen as just, given the situation. A non-Christian could be one that abuses their partner, mentally or physically, they could be one that commits adultery, or one that just plain refuses to seek the Lord. While it is the duty of a Christian to help his or her spouse grow in spirituality, they can not force it. Different religious beliefs can cause for bad marriages. In Malachi 2:16 it states “God hates divorce.” To a Christian divorce is the end of any reconciliation. In Deuteronomy 24:1-3 it reads “if a man divorces his wife he cannot later re-marry her.” This is believed to be a punishment for those who divorce over small things and to also make the couple really consider if divorce is the answer.
A poll taken in December of 1999 showed that 11% of all adults have divorced. The Southern Baptists Convention Council on the Family did a study on divorce as well. Their out come showed that born again Christians who married in the church, received premarital counseling, and attend church and pray together regularly see only 1 divorce out of 39,000 marriages.
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