Love like Christ

Lately I've heard / seen several marital issues that have had me deep in thought.

That's right folks, today we're not talking bout my marriage. We're gonna talk about other people's.

First, on an episode of Hoarders,  the husband walks out on his wife mid-show as she discusses her hoarding problem. Says he's divorcing her, something he's threatened before.

I understand both sides of their argument. They've only been married a few years, and she says (and he admits) that her house looked like this before they married, the entire time they dated. If it were that big of an issue, he should never have proposed. He says she refuses to move, and refuses to create any room for him in her life, literally. That if she weren't willing to make room for him, she should never have said 'yes'.

They both have very valid points.

One of my friends is going thru a situation with her husband where he cheated on her. She threatened to leave unless he cut off the affair & agreed to counselling. He agreed. They are both getting counselling (individually & together), and he has been trying to make it up to her ever since. Romancing her like never before.

Another friend, caught her husband cheating. Again. She never left him the first time, choosing instead to forgive the offense. Now she's not sure what to do. He has (in a roundabout way) that he would rather leave her & their children than to seek counselling for their problems. It remains to be seen if either of them will leave.

All of this talk of leaving. Actually leaving, threatening to leave, giving ultimatums or "I'm out" has me doing a lot of thinking.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the desire to leave. Trust me. I get it. The truth is I've been very close in the past myself. I get it.

An in a situation of cheating or beating*, you even have a biblically justified reason for divorce.

But... and bear with me here... don't we all sin against our spouses in some way? Offend them? Hurt them? Don't we all have our issues & baggage we bring to the table? Don't we all make mistakes? Sometimes repeatedly?

What makes it enough? What offense is enough to end your marriage? To break your covenant?

Beyond marriage, don't we all hurt the ones we love?

Taking it even further, what about Christ? How many times have we offended Him? Sinned against God? Aren't we all sinners, undeserving of the Lord's forgiveness?

What if God chose to leave?
What if He reached a point where he said "enough is enough, you have hurt me too many times, I'm leaving you." ??

And as these thoughts whirled around in my head, I thought "what if marriage, the bigger-picture view of marriage, is that it isn't about being with whom you love, it's about learning how to love the unlovable?"

* this post is not talking about victims of domestic violence. If you or your children are being harmed, please get out now.  You can Google domestic violenced help in your area, or if the situation is truly urgent, call 9-1-1 for immediate assistance.