Perhaps you’ve already heard the news that a Miami woman plans to sue her husband for half of his lottery winnings which he kept secret from her and that she plans on filing for divorce in due time because of his actions.
I’ve heard this mentioned by a few people now, and the one common thread connecting all of the accounts I’ve heard together is that she is justified in her actions. In other words, she should divorce him because of what he did.
Don’t misunderstand: His actions are no doubt sinful1 based upon what I’ve read in the news; judging by available sources, he has not done right by his wife.
But does that justify the wife doing wrong by the husband (read: filing for divorce)? Yes, she’s entitled to share in the lottery winnings,2 but divorce?
Could I be so bold as to say that divorce is the worse offense??
Okay, I admit, in a secular humanist, moral relativist world, marriage is nothing more than a pragmatic living condition wherein resources may be shared in order to better serve the herd — err, family. Divorce in such a system becomes no more wrong than a typical business reorg.3
But biblically, there is no grounds for divorce — God hates divorce.4 What God joins together in marriage, no man has the right to tear apart.5 Marriage itself is a picture or figure of the relationship between Christ & the Church;6 if Christ & the Church are gloriously inseparable, how offensive divorces must be to our Father in Heaven!
With the widespread prominence of divorce, how can the Church be a light unto the world in this matter? Well, I’d recommend Christians committing to memory verses which pertain to godly marriages and striving to live those verses out in their daily lives.7
Yet even those key biblical truths will do couples little good if we don’t get into our head those two commandments that Jesus made sure to remind us of: Love God with all of your heart, and love others as yourself.8
Love. Am I loving someone as much as I should? If no, I’m sinning, and I need to repent. That is especially true of my relationship with God and with Alicia.
If that realization could be made in the hearts of the couple mentioned in the news above, there wouldn’t be a divorce, nor would the husband be withholding what money he has.9
Well, what if he still screwed up, shouldn’t she leave him? No. Evil does not overcome evil. It simply begets more evil. Paul instructs us to not be vengeful but to live peaceably and lovingly, overcoming evil with good.10
And frankly, what husband would want to withhold good things from a wife who lovingly adores him? Or what wife would want to leave a husband who pours himself out for her? I know that people make mistakes — no denying that I’ve made more than my fair share. But if mistakes are unable to be forgiven and overlooked, then love is absent (which itself is a sin to be repented from).
- I can’t help but view this from a biblical perspective; moral relativism leaves a putrid taste in my mouth… [↩]
- I won’t get into the morality of gambling at this time… [↩]
- Dilbert-style humor notwithstanding. [↩]
- Malachi 2:16. [↩]
- Matthew 19:6. [↩]
- Ephesians 5:22-27. [↩]
- Such as Ephesians 5:22-27; Colossians 3:18-19; and 1 Peter 3:1. [↩]
- Matthew 22:37-39. [↩]
- Okay, given the “love God” bit, he may not have even been gambling in the first place. [↩]
- Romans 12:19-21. [↩]
