God Loves You More Than He Loves Your Marriage
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
God wants loving marriages. Satan wants cruel marriages.
Those words jumped out at me as I read Gretchen Baskerville’s book, The Life Saving Divorce. In my memoir, God, the Devil, and Divorce, I describe a scene in which my Christian counselor declares, “If you divorce, Satan wins!” I wish I had known Baskerville’s statement, but I’m proud of myself for expressing similar thoughts.
Even though the counselor’s words sent me into shock, I had the presence of mind to reply, “Satan has already won. Satan won when Jim broke our marriage covenant by not loving or honoring me. He’s addicted to his work and his religious pursuits. To me, that’s being unfaithful. And he refuses to acknowledge those actions that have driven us apart and to ask for forgiveness.”
Baskerville explains, “Satan loves the fact that innocent spouses and children are bound to someone who devastates them, humiliates them, betrays them, and treats them treacherously … Jesus isn’t like that. Jesus came to set people free.”
It took me years to fully understand this truth, but now that I’m free, I’m all about spreading the word. If you are in an abusive relationship, I want you to know that God loves you and wants the best for you. What is “the best”? To be loved, to be cherished, and to be safe from abuse of all kinds. If you do not have that kind of relationship and are suffering emotionally or physically, trust God and His helpers here on earth to assist you in finding the care and safety you need.
Blessings,
Linda M. Kurth is a writer and a divorced and remarried Christian. In going through the divorce, she experienced a dichotomy of responses from the Christian community. After sharing some of those experiences in her new memoir, God, the Devil, and Divorce, she's heard many stories of divorced Christians who have struggled with the same issues. This blog invites divorced Christians to tell their stories with the goal of encouraging churches to resist condemnation and become a source of healing and grace.
I welcome your comments and feedback.
