15 Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.Divorce is an endemic disease among our people. You can't turn around without bumping into someone who has had their life changed by it. I also see it in our relationship with God, as in Psalm 106:11-13 when the Psalmist speaks of Israel after the parting of the Red Sea:
11 The waters covered their adversaries;The prescription for faithlessness in the Bible is remembrance. As soon as you start forgetting who the Lord is and what he has done for you, the more you start to slip away from faithfulness. Listen to Psalm 78: 4-8:
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.
4 We will not hide them from their children;You can also describe this remembrance as the spiritual discipline of Thanksgiving. Considering that the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up very soon, I think this would be a great time for you to practice this very easy discipline: simply write a list of or discuss with others what you're thankful for. Once you are done with this list, spend a few minutes meditating on what you are thankful for and how that shapes your view of God. Reflect on Psalm 77: 9-12:
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their forefathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?Job, in the midst of his trial, is able to refuse his wife's demand that he throw off his faithfulness to the Lord because he remembers the good God has done for him. In Job 2:10, he responds,
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.In 2 Peter 3:8-9, we are told,
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.We are told to remember God's eternal character, so that we do not understand a delay in God's action as his lack of desire or ability to take action in our lives.
What about being faithful to humans, such as to our spouse? The verses we have looked at so far have talked about faithfulness to God because we remember his character. What does that have to do with divorce and other faithlessness issues? Consider this: Since faithfulness is a Fruit of the Spirit, it is developed through a deepening relationship with God. There is a primacy of loving God over loving others. This is the same with faithfulness: faithfulness to God will precipitate faithfulness to others. This happens because, as we stay faithful to God in a growing relationship with him, he will transform our hearts to be faithful hearts. Look at Hosea 14:4:
4 “I will heal their waywardnessGod is able to heal our waywardness and faithlessness if we turn our hearts more and more to him. Of course, we are all human and will find ourselves failing in our faithfulness from time to time. All sin is an act of faithlessness, really. So, I am not trying to set some unattainable standard if you were only "Christian" enough to achieve it. Rather, God is faithful and, by spending time with him, we are able to mimic his character just like a child mimics his parents. Not only do we do this by mimicry, but, like I said earlier, we open ourselves to the work of the Spirit in our lives rather than resisting it. This is done, not just through the discipline of thankfulness, but through all the spiritual disciplines, such as Bible reading or prayer. Finally, all people are different and this post is not meant to prescribe a single solution to all cases of faithlessness. However, my assertion is that we can all become a little more faithful by remembering what God has done in our lives as we spend time with him.
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
Meditate on Psalm 86:11-13 this week:
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
Peace,
Simeon
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