March 17 2013 Relationship Rescue: Dealing With Divorce

/ Great Plains Community Church/

Dealing With Divorce

Mark 10:2-12 “Some Pharisees came and tried to trap [Jesus] with this question: ‘Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?’ ‘What did Moses say about divorce?’ Jesus asked them. ‘Well, he permitted it,’ they replied. ‘He said a man merely has to write his wife an official letter of divorce and send her away.’ But Jesus responded, ‘He wrote those instructions only as a concession to your hard-hearted wickedness. But God's plan was seen from the beginning of creation, for 'He made them male and female.' 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.’ Later, when he was alone with his disciples in the house, they brought up the subject again. He told them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and remarries, she commits adultery.’”

Jesus On Divorce:

  • Divorce Breaks the heart of God
  • Divorce is allowed in cases of adultery, abandonment, and abuse but not necessitated
  • Do whatever is possible to avoid divorce

5 Decisions For Dealing With Divorce

Psalm 144:7 “Reach down from heaven and rescue me; deliver me from deep waters.” 

1. Commit to a Forever view on marriage. Mark 10:6-9

2. Deal with problems Proactively

Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Do not commit adultery.'But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

  • Date/Marry A Believer
  • Date My Spouse (Keep the Romance Alive)
  • Defend My Marriage From Temptation
  • Marital Counseling

3. Do whatever I can to reconcile.

Mark 10:8-9(Jesus) “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.”

Romans 12:18 “Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible.” 

4. Break my destructive patterns

Jeremiah 8:5 “Then why do these people keep going along their self-destructive path, refusing to turn back, even though I have warned them?”

Proverbs 26:11 “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

5. Trust God to bring healing & Hope

Psalm 147:3-4 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”