Reclaiming Marriage as an Arm of God’s Justice
The state rewards a man and woman for their commitment to each other and the children they may bear. Government provides limited legal guidelines and benefits that encourage marital commitment.
But in order for marriage to become what God wants it to be, we must realize the limitations of the state to create strong marriages. That task belongs to communities of faith that can help reclaim marriage from the mess we have made of it.
‘Gay marriage’ is founded, in part, upon the failure of marriage in our day. 50% of marriages fail. The vows of both pagans and Christians hinge more upon the pursuit of personal well-being than upon a commitment to one’s spouse and one’s children.
One prayer warrior wept as we prayed for the good of marriage in California and beyond. Her pain lay in her limited exposure to that goodness–the lack of committed and whole marriages she had encountered in her 50-year-old life.
Internet porn now plays a major role in divorce. Matrimonial lawyers claim that “an excessive interest in Internet porn’’ contributed to more than half of their cases. A gay writer noted that among his generation, the institution of divorce prevailed over marriage. The cycle intensifies. Among other consequences, children of divorce are 3X more likely to replay the failure of their parents.
A wise woman and I discussed ‘gay marriage’ the other day. Amid the talk, she filled me in on two Christian families. It seems the husband of one family, and the wife of the other had cultivated an 8-year affair under everyone’s noses. They then divorced and married each other. Now they wonder why their kids have problems with what they did for ‘love’. “‘Gay marriage’ is a symptom of the failure of marriage in our land,” she said.
Yet marriage still holds power, a power that must be reclaimed through repentance. In spite of marriage being struck down in our day, it is not destroyed. Holy matrimony can still civilize and mature both men and women so that they can leave a legacy of committed love for their children. We must reclaim its power as an arm of God’s justice.
“Marriage is being asked to stand alone as a union of man and woman in which the single value of love transcends all others…The very crisis in contemporary marriage may function to bring marriage closer to into line with God’s highest purposes for it.” Mike Mason Honor marriage for the good of all. Vote YES on Proposition 8.
“O God, we see the mess we are in. Like Nehemiah, we are in disgrace as we survey the rubble of failed marriages around us. Come let us rebuild the walls, O God. We ask for grace to see our wickedness and to turn from it. As we arise, fortify the vows we have made to You and to one another. Let Your grace be greater than our failures.
Redeem our lives, O God, for the sake of love; let love be as justice to our children.”
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