Honor God in Your Marriage
A 2023 Forbes survey of Americans who are divorced or who are in the process of divorcing was conducted to discover why marriages fail. Based on this survey, the top 3 reasons for failed marriages among respondents were Lack of family support, Infidelity, and Lack of intimacy. Some other interesting points gleaned from the survey are also telling. Did you know that 3 in 4 divorces are initiated by only one party? Much more often than not, the decision to divorce isn’t mutual. Sadly, only 5% of divorcees say there was no way their marriage could have been saved. In other words, whether the decision was mutual or not, after the fact, nearly every divorce comes with some sense of regret over the decision. In a more encouraging twist though, the survey indicated that just 4% of couples divorce after 10 years of marriage, perhaps revealing the benefit of commitment to the marriage and the hard work needed by both husband and wife to overcome the challenges that arise in marriage relationships. Maybe having a better understanding of the commitments of marriage before getting married could have helped them to avoid divorce. 63% of divorcees believe this would have been helpful. There are dozens of different conclusions and teaching points to be taken from this survey, and each are worth considering and learning from, but as I try to sum them up, here’s where I land. Couples need to have more than an idealistic sense of marriage before they get married. They need to be encouraged as to the great goodness of marriage while understanding the reality of the challenges they’ll face in their relationship and how to work through those challenges. And when couples enter into marriage, they need support from loved ones, especially from those who know God’s plans and purposes for marriage. And lastly, as I believe this Sunday’s text affirms, there is a real connection between struggles with intimacy and infidelity in marriage: topics the church is often too bashful to take on yet we neglect these conversations at the risk of fostering failed marriages.
We invite you to come join us this Sunday morning for our in-person worship service at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, starting at 10:55 AM. For those unable to attend, our service can be viewed live on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leptondalebiblechurch. This Sunday, we’ll continue a sermon series from 1st Corinthians titled “Written for Our Instruction” with a message from 1st Corinthians 7:1-16 titled “Honor God in your marriage.”
God bless!
Pastor Mike
