To the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him . . . But if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace(I Corinthians 7: 12-15).
A book could be written about these verses, but this is only a devotional, so I will only make one point: Marriage does require a person to become an adult. If a marriage is to succeed and flourish, each partner has to grow and mature. Successful people are not static, staying the same throughout their lives. It is inevitable that one of the partners will make the decision to grow. When one spouse hears the call of God to become an adult, the other spouse is faced with these choices: 1) to become an adult, too, 2) to live with it, facing the possibility of becoming an adult, him/her self, or 3) to sabotage the growth by threatening to leave, or some other means of causing trouble in the family relationship. The best way to help a marriage partner is not to surrender to the trouble, but to continue on the path of growing in faith, knowledge and personal responsibility. If a spouse refuses to come along, not much else can be done to help him or her to mature and he or she will continue to live as a child in a world that desperately needs adults.
Our Father's Love,
Tom
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