Marriage Separation: A Godly Choice?

1 Corinthians 7:10-11, "To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife." 

I am going to reference a Facebook profile called "stronger marriages" (S.M.) which someone shared many entries with me. This entries have some sound Christian advice regarding marriage and I wanted to share and speak on some of it. This entry (Many struggling couples choose to separate as a way to "work on their Marriage." Separation is not a step towards healing your marriage; it is a giant leap towards Divorce. If you're serious about working things out, stay under the same roof, seek counsel, communicate, pray and don't give up!) spawned the above scripture. I stand with both authors, that separation is definitely not the answer to your marriage issues. I can speak from experience it truly is a path that is almost impossible to recover from. God can heal your marriage if you BOTH truly trust Him to do so.

 S.M. says "Forgiveness does for Marriage what breathing does for a body; you can't survive without it! Forgiveness doesn't mean that the painful mistakes don't matter, it simply means that you love your spouse too much to keep holding past mistakes against them. Choose to let go of bitterness and replace it with grace so that trust can be rebuilt. Be quick to give and seek forgiveness and your marriage will stay strong!" We all know that this is the single most difficult thing to do. Our selfish pride in most cases doesn't want or allow us to follow Gods will in this instance. Mark 11:25, "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” This is the easiest way the enemy can continue the attack on your family. Obviously there is already some offense that has already occurred and by not finding a way to forgive then you have given the enemy permission to take your family from Gods hands and have dominion over your lives. Now I believe that either party can open this door. Both must give the relationship to God together and work in tandem to keep the enemy at bay. Satan doesn't want just your marriage, he wants your family. 2 Corinthians 11:3, "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."

I believe 1 Corinthians 13 is our road map for Love and Marriage in short. It gives you all the guidelines needed for anything you may face in your marriage. S.M. highlighted a few of these in a post of marriage builders and killers:
MARRIAGE-BUILDERS: Time together, Thoughtfulness, Prayer, Sex, Communication, Shared Dreams, Forgiveness, Faithfulness, Humility, Generosity and Trust.
MARRIAGE-KILLERS: Unhealthy Friendships, Secrets, Lies, Porn, Financial Debt, Greed, Drama, Pride, insults, infidelity, Disrespect and Selfishness.  
I'm sure many of you can see many traits that coincide with some positive and negative issues in your lives. This is all covered by the versus in 1 Corinthians 13 which I am going to close with. The powerful meaning in these words should be read over and over into your marriage. God puts such an emphasis on Love and states there is nothing that can overcome Love except a "hard heart", Ephesians 4:18, "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." Do you have a hard heart? Is there unforgiveness in your life? Do you wish to feel Gods grace and blessings in your life. I heard someone speak, not to long ago of a dream, where God said "tell them to stop reaching for me.....", I was taken back and then Gods words were finished, "Tell them to start living through Me." So normally I would tell you to reach to God, but I believe that dream was meant for this message and for everyone to read the versus below and start believing them in your life and this will be living in Love and through God your relationship will be stronger than ever.

1 Corinthians 13

1)If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2)If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3)If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4)Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5)It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6)Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7)It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8)Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9)For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10)but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11)When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12)Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13)And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Here is a radio broadcast from Dr. Ed Young on marriage called "When the Vow Breaks". This a two part powerful message and I want to encourage everyone to hear both parts.

When the Vow Breaks Part 1

When the Vow Breaks Part 2

Lets Pray: Father God, Thank you for your undeserving Grace Father. We come to you asking for that now, o forgive us of our sins, to guide us in our lives and to show us how to forgive. Father so many suffer in their marriages and we know if they knew You, followed Your principles and gave their relationships to You, that You would heal them. Father we pray that these couples follow 1 Corinthians 13 as part of the guide for their marriage as well as the rest of the Word Father. Lord we ask for healing and understanding in these lives and we ask all this in Jesus name...AMEN.