Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 72
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Can a person who has been divorced remarry?
Each person considering these issues thinks
he or she is a special case and that no one has experienced quite the difficulties they have had. That
makes giving advice without knowing the people
involved difficult. However, it is best to pray much
about a decision to divorce, to be open to and seek
God’s healing of your marriage, and to consult with
a godly counsellor or pastor who can speak prophetic words from God into your relationship.
When a wife or child has been abused, swift
action should be taken to report such abuse to
the proper authority. The church’s first responsibility is to protect the person being abused, even
if the person doing the abusing has a position
of responsibility. No woman should be encouraged by the church to go back to a spouse who
will continue to abuse her. An abusive spouse or
parent must repent and seek help.
Churches should carefully balance the scriptural command to hold individuals accountable
to God for their actions (1 Corinthians 5:1-13)
with compassionately supporting adults and
children who have been hurt by divorce. This
involves decisions that are not easy to make. Ask
God for wisdom.
A Great Mystery
The way a man and a woman are joined together
to become one “is a great mystery, but it is an
illustration of the way Christ and the church are
one” (Ephesians 5:32). Paul then sums up the
heart of this relationship: “Each man must love
his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must
respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33). Do that
and your marriage will be well on its way towards becoming a healthy and stable marriage
for the glory of God in Africa.
Points to Remember
• Marriage was instituted by God, and the family is the basic unit of society.
• Your marriage relationship should be a picture of the relationship between Christ and his church.
• Couples should receive premarital counselling from a godly counsellor or the clergy. A husband
and wife should enjoy talking with each other as friends.
• God wants a husband and wife to enjoy sex together and not commit adultery. Young people
must wait to have sex until they are married.
• Children are a gift from God, and one of the purposes of marriage is to produce godly children.
• God intends for marriages to be permanent. Although the Bible allows for divorce when a
marriage is plagued by infidelity or abuse, those considering divorce should pray for healing
in their marriage and seek godly counsel.