Can I Ever Remarry?

Q

If marital unfaithfulness and/or marriage to an unbeliever are the only biblically acceptable reasons for divorce, then can I ever remarry?

My husband was physically and emotionally abusive to me…and after we had children he was including them in his abusive behavior as well. I wanted a divorce and told him so…many times. We tried counseling without success. Finally, he agreed to get a divorce…and he was the one who actually initiated the petition. I never fought it.

A

Divorce for reasons other than the ones permitted in Scripture is a sin. Jesus made that clear. But He also went to the cross so that we could be forgiven for our sins. I don’t know who decided that divorce should be the one unforgivable sin, but it wasn’t the Lord.

You attempt to justify your position, even though you say you asked for a divorce on many occasions, by saying that your husband initiated it and you didn’t fight it. The Lord doesn’t need to be told whose fault it was or who actually started it. He knows the intent of our heart better than we do. Blaming someone else is the approach Adam and Eve took with Him in the Garden and that mankind has been taking ever since. But He already knows who’s to blame. The thing He wanted them to do was confess so they could be forgiven. It’s the same with us.

What He needs for you to do is stop trying to justify yourself, admit that it was a sin, and ask for His forgiveness. Then He can apply His blood and forgive you. And when He does He also forgets it ever happened. Then you can get on with your life and if you find that marrying again is something that He wants for you, do it without reservation, giving thanks to Him for His great mercy.