For all my married friends and family... My wise Aunty Daphne Roberts got this out of the bible scriptures for us: Finding Joy in the Gift of Marriage “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.”—MATTHEW 19:6. ARE those words familiar to you? They are no doubt familiar to millions of people in Christendom, who make up a large portion of the world’s population, for they are the words of the Lord Jesus as he spoke to the religious Pharisees of his day. While the words may be familiar, what about the meaning of the statement of Jesus? Is the import of such advice followed by mankind in general? Let us see. 2 In many lands today, there is very little regard on the part of the people for the marriage arrangement and for continuing that which God has yoked together. Divorce has reached what could be described as epidemic proportions in country after country. In lands where divorce is not legally permitted by the government, the picture is no brighter, for in such lands people often leave marriage mates and take up living with someone else. So the worthy advice of Jesus at Matthew 19:6 is not being heeded by millions of people in Christendom and elsewhere. Is this because the advice Jesus gave is bad, or is it because people do not listen when Jesus speaks, and they care little about the advice of Jesus in this regard? 3 The evidence is that a large percentage of people do not view marriage as a lifetime contract if it interferes with their own life-styles and desires. To such ones, a marriage need be only a temporary arrangement if it interferes with one’s pursuits, likes, or dislikes. So it would almost seem that as easily as one sheds a coat or a hat, others shed a marriage mate, never thinking for a moment about the advice Jesus gave to those who enter into the marriage relationship. 4 With this everybody’s-doing-it attitude so prevalent, those wishing to follow the secure advice of the Bible can be influenced in a manner that leads them away from the good teaching of God’s Word. Fine counsel is given by the printed page and orally, but failure to heed the Bible’s advice can lead to marriage problems. (Compare Psalm 19:7-11.) If we adopt the attitude that anything in marriage interfering with our life-style, our pleasures, our desires, can be changed by our not abiding by God’s directions on marriage, then we are in danger. To have such an attitude brings us face to face with one of mankind’s greatest problems, that of selfishness. For generally it is selfishness that lies at the root of marriage problems.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 04:06:33 +0000
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