Life at Work

"It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (Matthew 5:31-32).

Hosea (not his real name) was getting a divorce. His wife begged him not to send her away. She wanted to work it out. "Don’t you love me?" she asked. "Don’t you know this will wreck the kids?"

Hosea responded, "Look, were divorcing. That’s it. But I promise, we’ll do it right. I’ll give you a certificate of divorce like the law requires."

It was like Deuteronomy 24:1-2 was printed bigger than the rest of the Old Testament. Maybe it was just the phrase "certificate of divorce" that was so large in the eyes of many Jewish men. "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, gives it to her and sends her from his house…"

The Jews were using that verse as much as unbelievers use the "don’t judge" verse today. They were so accustomed to using it, in fact, that some among the disciples said "If we can’t divorce, we shouldn’t even get married."

Their idea of doing marriage right was being sure to divorce with the right forms. Jesus stressed that doing marriage right means staying together. Only in extreme circumstance could you divorce. The Jesus Perspective is that marriage was designed to last a lifetime.

Are you thinking about getting out so much, and the possibility or impossibility of divorce so much, that you are not giving your marriage the energy it needs? Quit trying to find the right way out. Refocus on staying in and getting better. That's Life at Work!