First it was drive-thru weddings. Now it's divorce hotels. That's right folks - you and your beloved can check-in married on Friday and check-out divorced on Sunday. You can find the story at this link. As if our culture had not already trivialized marriage enough, we've now made divorce more convenient than it's ever been. And we wonder why our world is in the shape it's in.
Rather than talking about the tragedy of these divorce hotels any further, I'd rather use this as an opportunity to share what God's Word has to say about marriage. The foundation for marriage is found in Genesis 2:24 - "A man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." God's plan is that a man and woman should join their lives unto one another "until death do us part."
Why is that? First, because God has made it very clear that divorce is not His plan. In fact, the Bible says "He hates divorce" (Mal. 2:16). Of course, that's not to say that God hates divorced people. He loves every man, woman, and child in this world. But God hates divorce because "it covers one's garment with violence" (Mal. 2:16) and it often has very negative consequences for the children affected by it (Mal. 2:15).
Furthermore, Jesus very clearly preached against divorce. After quoting Gen. 2:24 in one of His sermons, Jesus said, "What God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matt. 19:6). I'm convinced the reason divorce runs rampant is because we think marriage is something we've created. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marriage always has and always will be the creation of God.
Some of you are probably asking, "Is it ever permissible for a man to divorce his wife, or vice versa?" The Bible provides only two grounds for divorce - adultery (Matt. 5:32, 19:9) and abandonment (1 Cor. 7:15). But even in those cases, God desires that we do all we can to salvage and strengthen our marriages, for "God has called us to peace" (1 Cor. 7:15).
How many divorces are really the product of adultery or abandonment, and how many come as a result of "irreconcilable differences?" Let's face it - most couples choose to divorce simply because they're no longer willing to honor the vows they took before God and witnesses on their wedding day. By the way, what did we say when we got married? Probably something like this: I take you to be my spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.
Before you and your spouse check-in to a divorce hotel, think about those last words. Marriage is not always easy, but if we love God and our spouses we'll honor our vows "until death do us part." Let's start a marriage revolution and put the divorce hotels out of business!
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