Adultery.

I have always heard the statistics regarding divorce. It's just stats, right.... Random numbers that don't mean a thing until they are thrust into a real-world context?

50% of marriages will end in divorce.

I never thought to look around and say, "Half the couples I know will end up divorced." I know that stats don't work that way.... Half of the people I know won't end up divorced... It could be more.... I hope it's less. I am only 25, and I already know several couples my age that are already divorced. If you are divorced and reading this, don't worry. This is not a condemnation of divorce. It's a sad look at a hard subject from MY POINT OF VIEW. Please don't take this as God's truth or anything. It's just my analyses of what I've seen.

17% of divorces in America are caused by infidelity.

I would venture to say that this number is higher than it would first appear....

This is my blog, so I am going to write about my personal experience with these subjects... That personal experience, I am sad to say, has been within the confines of a Christian church. I expect these sort of statistics to occur in the general population. What I have found to be true (with a little research) is that these numbers look the same within the Christian community.

I just heard of a couple that is getting divorced because she was having extramarital affairS (yea, with an "S"). I would like to say that I was completely taken aback when I heard about this... but I was not. I wasn't even shocked. I'm just numb to it. It has happened many times before and will continue to happen. This wasn't the run-of-the-mill back-row member, either... This was a person who thrust themselves actively within the inner workings of churches. What kind of effect will this have on the body of Christ... especially the "little ones" that the Bible teaches us explicitly not to offend by our actions (if we are more mature Christians).

All I can do is to pray for God's grace over my marriage. Who among us can say that we or our spouse is affair-proof?? There are steps that we take according to scripture to "guard our hearts" and our marriages.... but in the end, it's God's grace that keeps us from these snares.

I would like to say, though, that ALL ( and I mean ALL) of the people that I know who had affairs had some SERIOUS relationship issues BEFORE they got married. The affair was never the first red flag. They usually plowed through a couple hundred roadblocks on their way to someone else's arms.... or to finding that their spouse had been unfaithful. A couple of these instances I can remember thinking, "I don't think they should get married." Not my call. But it is a cautionary tale... for those looking for a future mate or those of us who are already married.

"What God has joined together... Let no man put asunder."

Amen.