Marriage/Divorce (1/2)

Righteousness or dikaiosune

A relationship has the power to change what a religion does not, it can change a heart.  

To provide the best environment for a person to live a righteous life.

To protect us from anybody or anything that would threaten a righteous life.

What is God trying to provide and protect the righteous life from?

Love, Truth and Power.

Matthew 5:31

You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’

Deuteronomy 24:1

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce . . .

Shammai — the law is only referencing marital unfaithfulness.

Hillel — the law is referencing anything the husband deems as indecent.

Matthew 5:32

But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

Matthew 19:3

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

What’s the rule about divorce that allows a person to still qualify as a good person?

Matthew 19:4–6

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore (Cause/Effect) what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

What is God’s original (beginning) definition and purpose of marriage?

The definition of Biblical marriage is one man (ish--Masculine Hebrew Noun) being joined to one woman (ishaw--Feminine Hebrew Noun) by God (Spirit) into a permanent union (echad/oneness—same word as integrity, integer, wholeness).

Matthew 19:7-8

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

What is the biggest enemy for your marriage?

Unresolved anger that leads to contempt and as a result you redefine people, even the one you married, which leads to the murder of a marriage.

Unchecked desires that lead to looking in the wrong direction to find something good to meet unmet wants, needs, hopes and expectations.

Vision: What is your vision for your marriage (provide, protect, intimate)?

Intent: Have you come to a line in the sand?

Strategy: What will you do differently?