Thursday, June 13, 2019

TIM Good morning, I’m Tim Wise, Senior Adult Minister and Sanctuary Choir Director at Central. From all I’ve seen and heard, divorce is one of the most painful experiences that a person can walk through. Very often people who face divorce feel hopeless. Sadly, many who turn to the church for help face rejection, feeling unwelcome. Many have shared their feelings of being outcast and shunned, even in the case where they were the spouse left behind. Sometimes this is simply their misperception, but sometimes it is very real. Tragically, the Christian army is the only army in the world known to shoot its wounded. Yes, Scripture teaches that God hates divorce, but just because He hates divorce doesn’t mean He hates the divorcee. He loves the divorcee. God hates divorce for many of the same reasons the divorcee hates divorce – most of all, for the pain and suffering it causes to so many lives. There is no doubt that divorce always results from sin, but it is not an unforgivable sin. Divorce is never what God wants, but Jesus teaches us that we have a God of second chances – a God of forgiveness. We all commit sins on a daily basis, yet God offers us forgiveness from those. When we trust in Christ and confess our sins to the Lord, we begin to realize He loves us and forgives us completely. We can find that total and complete healing in the person of Jesus Christ.