Married People: Stay Together! (1 Corinthians 7:8-11)

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:8-11

Today’s verses begin by reiterating Paul’s exhortations we looked at yesterday. Single people stay single and serve God, but if their sexual drive is strong, they should get married. Then he goes on to instruct married people, and he reminds his readers that these instructions come from the Lord, not from him.

Married couples should stay married. Bottom line.

Paul writes that wives should not leave their husbands and that husbands should not divorce their wives.  

Marriage—Christian marriage—is a covenant relationship, with God at the center. And it is meant to be for life. Hebrews 13:4 states, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Nothing—nothing—should break this covenant.

Yet, Christian marriages break up all the time. The Bible gives two “reasons” for divorce (and I believe implies a third). The first is infidelity (see Matthew 19:9), and the second will be addressed tomorrow. The implied third is in cases of abuse, and I believe this because the Bible is clear that wives are to respect their husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves us (see Ephesians 5:22-26). Abuse is neither respect nor love.

The fact that Christian marriages end because of “irreconcilable differences” is one of the biggest tragedies of our age. “I just don’t love him anymore,” she says. “We’ve grown apart,” he insists.

I’m sorry (well, no I’m not sorry), but committed couples understand that love and passion ebb and flow, and they work through those times when things may not be all “roses and sunshine.”

And guess what? Couples cannot “grow” apart. Growth implies maturity and health. Instead, couples fall apart. Sadly, it’s often because they just don’t try. They aren’t willing to work during the hard times.

It’s tragic. Truly tragic.