Treating People As Expendable

I remember reading a Canadian magazine someone brought me years ago. It had a story about a feminist lady, and the author's attitude was obviously positive. One thing I still remember is that when the lady in question was getting married and the preacher was doing the wedding sermon, when he came to the words "for better for worse" she interrupted him and said "for better or never". I think it sums up modern attitudes about marriage pretty well, for both men and women.

I also remember how I was a little girl and wondering why people divorce. I asked my mother if she ever could divorce my father. She told me that my father was just as much her family as me or her parents and that you can't divorce your family because whatever they do, they still stay your family. If you have children, teach them that family aren't expendable, by words of mouth and by example.

C.Lewis wrote about divorce that it wasn't so much the sexual aspect, but rather  breaking your solemn oath, which made it truly despicable. Ironically, he himself married a divorced woman, yet I still think it was a good argument to make. Our culture is shallow and materialistic, it values feelings above common sense, material wealth above friends and family and mocks such traditional virtues as chastity and loyalty. It went so far that in discussion on some supposedly Christian site, women were belittled and attacked for staying virgins as apparently, it made them "holier than thou." We aren't afraid to fall in sin any more, we are afraid to judge.

Yet sometimes it's necessary. Many Christians nowadays say something along the lines of "hate the sin, love the sinner." It's true, to a degree, yet the Scriptures teach us that it's sinners and not their sins that are going to burn in Hell for eternity, something we never like to think about any more. The Scriptures also call the wife departing from her husband "treacherous" and have some things to say about the men divorcing, too.

In our licentious times, the last thing one should be afraid of is "legalism" (mostly trotted out when a woman wants to dress and behave modestly), and being "holier than thou" for following God's commandments on sexual behaviour and marriage. The good news is, we still have a choice. Every day, every single minute we can choose to do right or to follow the multitudes to do evil. You may lose out on material comforts, but there is immense satisfaction in sticking to your convictions and persevering. Because doing what is right is its own reward.