Marriage is one institution that cannot be wished away. This is why generally when two people come to an agreement to settle down; it is seen as the right step in the right direction. Due to certain factors and issues arising in most marriages a lot of people soon forget the plethora of pre-marital tete-a-tete that culminated in a marital union and throw in the towel.
It is true that there are some indices that have been established by man that give room for marital separation. In most African cultures, bride price can be returned to the bride’s family if the woman is found wanting. In most cases, after due consideration and a compromise is not in view, the woman’s family can return the bride price and subsequently dissolve the marriage.
In the bible, curious scribes and Pharisees in a bid to trap Jesus made enquiries on the issue of marital separation. The great teacher emphatically stated that from the beginning God made man and woman. When they pressed further, bringing to the fore the law of Moses that allowed a man to give a letter of divorce to his wife.
This kept women at the mercies of men. With this in motion, one begins to wonder what the driving force behind marital union is. Jesus gave the ultimate answer, pointing to the obvious hardness of the heart of man as the reason for the enactment of that law by Moses. God’s desire is that when a man and a woman decide to unite in holy matrimony, it should be a life time union and that is the stand of God. This is why God emphatically stated that “I hate divorce”.
The reasons for God’s declaration of hatred for divorce are not far-fetched. The family can be in existence without marriage. The society’s sanity is completely dependent on how healthy the family is. The enemy is fully aware of this fact; hence the incessant attack on marriages.
A lot of people in our time believe that marriage is not a do or die affair. People in recent times celebrate a successful programme of marriage. “I do, I did and I am done” becomes the mantra. As human beings, we all have our personality and differences. Marriage is not a joke. It is meant to last a life time. That is God’s programme for instituting marriage. It is an institution of God and not man’s culture. And since he instituted it, he has his laws for marriage.
Unfortunately, due to financial strain, infidelity on the part of both man and woman, domestic violence are seen as the major causes of divorce. Diver is most common among celebrities. One cannot authoritatively state that those who have decided to take a walk made little no effort to make their marriages work. It is sometimes difficult to reconcile some very delicate reasons for divorce. This is because in most cases, there is a threat to human life.
The truth is that, humanity has become depraved and very few people have learnt to maintain good and long lasting relations with family members and those within ones sphere of contact. It is easier to end a friendship or cut off from a family member when issues are not reconcilable. But, when it comes to marriage, all efforts must be made to ensure that the fan that steers the embers of love continues to spin. Divorce is one thing that should not be contemplated when issues arise in marriage.
For those who walk out of marriages following irreconcilable differences, the word of God still remains the same. Although reasons given for walking out may be very genuine, life threatening and others, the word of God however, states that Christians should not contemplate divorce. But if for any reason, a man or woman walks out of marriage, bot parties must either reconcile or remain unmarried until for any reason one parties dies.
