The Almighty God hates seeing two people that took vows in a church or anywhere, in his name, divorce. However, in spite of it being very heartbreaking to him, he allows it under certain circumstances which this article will discuss. We share the top 4 four biblical conditions for divorce, known as what are God’s reasons for divorce.
The Bible consistently says that marriage is a lifelong commitment. Jesus described the relationship between a man and a woman. In Matthew 19:6: “They are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together no one shall separate” (NIV).
Four biblical reasons for divorce (God’s conditions for divorce)
However, there are reasons the Bible allows divorce. This article will now discuss one by one what are the four biblical reasons for divorce and God’s reasons for divorce.
1. Death
Death is one of the ways divorce is granted. It does not make sense for the remaining individual to stay married to someone who died. Romans 7:2, says “A married woman is bound by the law as long as her husband lives, but when his husband dies, she is released from marriage.” However, it is not only women who are released from the marriage, men are too when their wives have died. A man or woman is free to marry another person after the spouse has died.
1 Corinthians 7:39, “All the days a wife is bound to her husband. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whoever she likes, only in God.”
2. Abandonment
Abandonment is another aspect that warrants a divorce. The Bible discourages Christians from marrying non-believers. But if they insist and marrying them, God still acknowledges the union. “If a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her; she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the believing husband” (1 Corinthians 7:12-14).
However, when one of them in such a marriage decides to leave, there is no objection and if anything, it is considered freedom by Apostle Paul “If the unbelieving spouse separates, so be it. In such a case, neither brother nor sister is enslaved” (1 Corinthians 7:15). Therefore, a divorce is given in this regard.
3. Adultery and Sexual Immorality
The Bible allows for married people to divorce in an event where one of them is unfaithful. In his own words, Jesus in Matthew 5:32 says “But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
There is nothing more painful than when a person who claims to love you cheats on you. We ask ourselves a lot of questions when the people we so much love and trust disappoint us by cheating on us. “Am I not enough for him or her?” “What did I do to deserve this?” “Am I not attractive anymore?”
Adultery stains marriage, which is one of only the things which God sanctified. If the other people who are cheated decide to divorce their unfaithful partner, they are free to do so as it is provided in the Bible but if they opt to forgive and still stay with them in the marriage as is the case with Will Smith and his wife who openly admitted to being in an entanglement with another man, they are equally free to do likewise.
Apart from physical infidelity or unfaithfulness, there is also “emotional infidelity.” Emotional infidelity means engaging in a deep friendship that doesn’t become physical, but in which the husband or wife is more emotionally connected to a friend than to his partner. Adultery may also involve the use of pornography or “sexting”.
If you marry the person you love, your marriage will be protected by respect and love. Further, if you and your husband are one flesh then you will never do anything immoral to him or her.
4. Hardness of heart
According to the Bible in the book of Matthew 19:8, Jesus said, “Because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at first it was not so. Hard-hearted means no
longer caring about your partner, no longer loving them, and doing the good things you have done for them in the past. There are times when people believe that no matter what happens, they will never love their partner again, no matter what kindness they do to show that they care and that love is still in their hearts – that is the hardness of heart.
It is all about not wanting anything to do with your partner even when he or she has done absolutely nothing bad to you. You choose to harden your heart toward them because the love you had for them has died or because you have found someone else, regardless of the reason, Moses allowed divorce in this case. In his thinking, it was better to end the marriage than to show no affection to your spouse.