FOR BETTER OR WORSE
(Part ll)
Breaking Faith…“Till death do we part”

WE say vows until death do we part. In Malachi 2:10-13, the Lord talks to us about breaking faith with our partners. “You flood the Lord’s altar with tears, you weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to you, it is because the Lord is acting as a witness between you and your wife (partner) of your marriage covenant”. This verse shows us how serious our Lord takes the vows we made to Him and our partners, here He is saying that because you have broken faith with your partner your prayers are not being answered. Anyone who mocks marriage, mocks God. 

Hebrews 13:4 says GIVE HONOR TO MARRIAGE. God’s word is clear. God is faithful and He will do what He promised to do. The reason God hates divorce (Maliachi 2:16) is because it makes Him look bad; it is like saying God is running short on love, patience and forgiveness.   Despite where you got married the Lord witnessed the vows you and your spouse made to each other. While friends and family witnessed that day with you, the Lord was the primary witness.    So divorce is not just breaking the promise with your partner, but with God. It disrupts God’s divine plans for godly children, because marriage destruction does long-term damage to children.   

In a recent counselling secession, an eight-year-old girl told her counsellor of the pain and hurt she and her sister felt when their father left the family home: “My daddy said that we were not the reason that he left, but I always wondered why we weren’t a good enough reason to stay”. 

Divorce disrupts God’s plans to provide children to become godly. When parents are committed to their vows, they create the best environment for children to become committed to God. The breaking down of our homes through divorce has resulted in the moral melt down of values in our children. Divorce disregards the divine institution that God delights in. God hates anything that destroys what He loves, and God loves marriages and God loves children. 

Divorce dismisses the divine witness to our vows. God’s goal for every couple is intimacy, “one flesh”. “Consequently they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.” (Matt. 19:6). The strength of marriage is not love or sex. The strength is the promise! Your vows were not multiple choices; you did not get to choose which ones you wanted…they were long life promise to the Lord. Mark 10:6-9 tells us what God’s intention for marriage is: “…and the two will become one flesh, so they are no longer two, but one…” That’s why divorces are so painful, you cannot separate from your flesh. 
But God!

God loves marriages so much.  Anything that God loves he can save.  For God so loved the world that he sent his only son to die for us, and wash away our sins (John 3:16).  God can save your marriage.  The Power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is still available today. So don’t give up, look up instead. 

Today I pray that we will re-commit to nurturing and cherishing our marriages.  It is critical that we come together and stomp out this epidemic that has taken over our community.    "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  (John 10:10.)   Satan's plan for the church and families is to divide, discourage and destroy.  Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy every marriage, and every family.  

There is no better illustration of faithfulness in a marriage, than that of Eph.5, it illustrates the way Christ and the Church are one.  Satan wants to destroy marriages because it is destroying the faithfulness of God.  It is crucial that we keep our faithfulness to God.

We must make a decision today that no matter what the circumstances; take your problems to God.  If your marriage has been attacked by the enemy and seems to be falling apart, I urge you to get to an “Altar” not an “Attorney”.   God heals hurting marriages.