From a recent article in the Joplin Globe:
- Living together before marriage doubles the chance of divorce.
- Children with divorced parents are 89% more likely to get divorced themselves.
- Jasper County, MO is one of the top 50 counties in America for divorce rates.
- Four leading causes of divorce are economic struggles, infidelity, blending families in second marriages, and addiction to drugs/alcohol.
- A college education lowers the likelihood of divorce.
- Adolencents with divorced parents are more than twice as likely to drop out of high school. "...virtually all of the increase in child poverty in United States since the 1970s can be attributed to family breakdown."
- Three way to help avoid divorce in the future: finish high school (and college!), wait until you are 21 to get married, don't have kids until after you are married.
What I find interesting about the article is that it pretty much mirrors Biblical wisdom. Biblically, marriage is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman that is meant to last until one of them dies. Of course, theologically there's a lot more to it than that, but that's another story. So on the surface marriage is pretty simple, but in reality it is a HUGE commitment that people take WAY to lightly. A solid marriage founded on common faith in Jesus Christ is still the best way to enjoy sex, provide stability for children, meet one's own social, emotional and spiritual needs, and survive financially. But American society has little regard for Biblical marriage today. I mean, a lot of people make a big deal about the whole "one man, one woman" thing (as opposed to homosexual marriage), and I suppose we should be grateful for small blessing like that, but most of those people are speaking out of convictions they know in their heads rather than in their hearts. They are fair-weather Christians who are only too happy to stand firm for their convictions as long as those convictions don't impinge on their own personal happiness. Of course, that's easy for me to say since I have (thankfully) led a very blessed life. I haven't had to fight through most of the issues facing all those couple in divorce court today. I hope I never have to. I can't help but think, however, that perhaps the reason I haven't been through a lot of that is because I have tried (albeit imperfectly) to keep Jesus Christ at the center of my life and marriage. I mean, everyone faces adversity in life, and some more than others (see Job, or my sister-in-law), but how we deal with that adversity is what reveals who we truly are. Do we run for the exit when trouble comes? Or fight tooth and claw for the things He values most? Notice I said "He" not "we." in that last sentence. I think "we" value our own personal freedom and happiness. Its in our DNA as a nation after all, but the truth is that the Bible trumps the constitution. And until we are willing to voluntarily surrender our own rights to happiness and freedom in the context of family, we will never really experience either. "He" has a wholly different set of values that when we fight for will produce the peace and hope we all long for anyway.
