But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
Nhưng từ lúc đầu sáng thế, Đức Chúa Trời làm ra một người nam và một người nữ. Vì cớ đó, người nam lìa cha mẹ mình mà dính díu với vợ; và hai người cùng nên một thịt mà thôi. Như thế, vợ chồng chẳng phải mà hai nữa, mà chỉ một thịt. Vậy, người ta không nên phân rẽ những kẻ mà Đức Chúa Trời đã phối hiệp.
God made the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground. God knew it wasn't good for a man to be alone, so He made a woman out of Adam’s rib to aid Adam. He made these first humans male and female. God looked at the man and woman He had made and called His creation good. From the very beginning of the Bible, God commanded that husband and wife should become one. Husbands and wives should stay together as they had promised when they were married in the Church. Divorce should not happen because it goes against what God commanded. However, sin has come into the world and many marriages and families have separated because of adultery.
In the sixth Commandment, God declared, "You shall not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14) When a man and woman get married in the Catholic faith, they make a promise to each other to stay loyal and true to only each other. It means they will only love and take care of one another and no one else (as husband and wife). Of course, they can love others as family and friends. Unfaithfulness in a marriage is when one or both persons in the marriage breaks that promise and causes the husband and wife to move apart, physically and emotionally. The trust they had for the other person is broken. They do not feel as if they are "one" any more. Being loyal to one’s husband or wife is so important to God that adulterers will not enter His kingdom. (1st Corinthians 6:9) Homes are divided and family members are scattered. Adultery destroys families; that is why God commanded us not to commit adultery. God believes that a loving husband and wife produce loving and respectful children. (Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4)
Jesus talked about the problem of adultery. He said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) To lust someone means to like them and want them inappropriately. A husband is not supposed to look at any other woman. He is supposed to stay loyal and pure for his wife. And she is supposed to do the same for him.
Jesus is calling His followers to have high standards; being unfaithful starts in the mind or heart. Jesus says we should never have unclean thoughts. Husbands and wives should stay pure and keep their thoughts pure! They should not look at another man or woman as a possible substitute for their partner. When you marry someone, you are supposed to stay with them for the rest of your life. Today, people see divorce as a way to quit a marriage so they can marry someone else. We’re not allowed to do that because it makes what God gave us, each other, lose value. Everyone must guard their minds, hearts and relationships!
Do you remember the story of Noah’s ark? Many bad men were marrying many wives and this made God mad. That is why he sent the flood to wash away the bad people. Noah had only one wife, whom he loved very much and stayed loyal to. That is why God liked him and asked him to build the ark so that good people would rebuild God’s family.
The sixth commandment also requires us to respect one another. Before marriage, men and women become friends and get to know one another. It is important for a man to respect a woman and her body, and a woman to respect the man. The man and woman should not have impure thoughts about one another or do anything to make become impure. That way, when they get married, their marriage and promise to one another will be very valuable because they saved themselves for each other. That is how God wants us to be. He wants us to be pure and clean so that we may enter heaven.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been fighting a lot for a very long time. They are tired of trying to solve their problems and want to get a divorce. This makes their kids, Joey and Suzy, very sad. If Mr. and Mrs. Johnson get a divorce, the kids will live with Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. Johnson will have to live by himself, and will get to visit the kids sometimes, but he won’t see them as much as he used to. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are being selfish and quitting their marriage and hurting everyone around them, including themselves and God.
Mr. Davis has a wife and three kids. Mr. Davis notices a very pretty woman at his work named Sarah. Mr. Davis sometimes wonders what his life would be like if he wasn’t married to Mrs. Davis. If he wasn’t married, he could date Sarah and maybe marry her someday. This is very bad, because with Mr. Davis’ thoughts, he is disrespecting his wife, and risking their marriage by thinking about divorce.
If your heart is pure, your actions will show it and everybody around you will know it! What is on the inside affects the outside! The brain tells the legs to walk and the mouth to talk. The heart can give out feelings of love or hatred, goodness or evil.
We can keep our hearts pure by doing the following:
Think good thoughts! "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8 Find good people in the Bible that we can use in our life as a positive role model. Learn all you can from the Bible. Read stories about Bible heroes and learn from them. They had faults too, but their good ways show us what to do and their bad ways show us what to avoid. Remember, if your heart is right, your life will be right. If your thoughts are pure, your actions will be pure. Guard your heart!
The sixth commandment protects a very sacred pledge, the promise between a man and woman. God gave us this commandment to protect us because adultery has many bad consequences. It hurts the husband and wife emotionally and physically, it hurts their kids, it hurts their families, and it hurts God.
It is very important that we do as God asks in regards to marriage. When we marry someone, we should keep our promise to them; to love, respect, and take care of them. A husband should never leave his wife and she should never leave him. When adults divorce they are hurting themselves, their family, and God. Getting married is a very serious decision to make, and once made, the marriage becomes a very serious promise. Just like God made a covenant with us, a husband and wife make a covenant with one another.
Today, keeping pure and loyal to one another is very hard. You can see on TV how actors and actresses play characters that are impure and disloyal to one another. They date different people and hurt each others feelings and disrespect one another. These are not the role models that God wants you to follow.
It is NEVER the child's fault when a marriage ends. Divorce is a grown-up decision made for a number of reasons. It is not our place to judge others. God is our judge and we shall all stand before Him to receive reward for the things we have done, whether it be good or bad. (2nd Corinthians 5:10)
Dear Lord, please help me to stay pure and think pure thoughts always. Help me as I grow up into an adult to know how to respect everyone, man and woman. Help me to make the right decisions in life when it comes to love and marriage. Please help my parents who are trying their best to be good to one another and have a good marriage. Amen.