He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives:
but from the beginning it was not so. Matthew 19:8
God hates divorce because it stems from the hardness of heart.
And He hates the sin that brings the hardness of heart: Unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred.
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one?
That he might seek a godly seed.
Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away:
for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts:
therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. Malachi 2:15-16
While the Lord is talking about the hardness of heart within marriage, He hates hardness of heart
no matter who it is to or what it is for.
He desires that our hearts are filled with love, even for our enemies.
He allows for no excuses.
In Matthew 24, Jesus mentions that the love of many will grow cold:
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. verse 12
Bitterness and hatred taints the heart.
I have yet to notice a scripture that addresses the way the people with warm hearts will feel
when the cold-hearted people reject them and hate them and persecute them and abolish them
with all of the characteristics of a cold heart. It will not feel good. It does not feel good.
The good fruit shall remain.
That is God’s best.
Will it remain in you?
Will it remain in me?
God help us if our love fails.
We will then be in danger of Hell’s Fire.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
Exodus 32:33
There are no sureties once someone has chosen to disregard what God has commanded.
Most bible scholars believe you cannot be removed from the Book of Life once you are in there.
Nowhere do the scriptures say that.
Instead, over and over does God warn us to not let hatred grow in our heart, to forgive,
and to love our enemies.
Think of the parables. Jesus taught us that we must love and forgive,
otherwise we will also receive the same fate as ones who disregarded Jesus’ commands.
We will be judged according to the measure we judge.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2
Do you judge without mercy? without grace? Be careful on that.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold,
and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:
and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying,
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry,
and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him,
O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,
if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Matthew 18:21-35
Jesus told us many times in many different ways that He expects us to love
and forgive and even mentions, as in this parable, to forgive from the bottom of our heart.
Jesus expects us to love others as much as we would love Him if He were walking on this Earth.
Don’t let your love grow cold and retain the honor, respect and fear of the Lord
I just saw a post by a Christian lady on X whose son and girlfriend had a baby on the way.
She posted about it and there were many who expressed their disapproval.
She was surprised and hurt and felt her son and future daughter-in-law had repented.
These people were not satisfied. They tore into her and her son with their harsh and cruel words.
I am not sure what they want them to do now. They are in the hands of God and that should be enough for any of us.
They have responded to their choices and sin and it is not between all those self-appointed judges and God,
it is between them and God.
I find it interesting when people decide to seat themselves upon the throne of God
and determine what should happen with other people. That is detestable to God.
Her son and future daughter-in-law are doing what scripture teaches.
Here is the most appropriate scripture for the matter in my humble opinion:
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
It always seems to me that when the King James uses the word charity where others us the word love is because that type of love is an extension of a gift that others do not deserve. None of us deserve love when we do something wrong, but Jesus always gives us a hand up, He would never step on our fingers when we are reaching for forgiveness, as some would.
We should do the same.
The greatest of these is love and God’s love is the only way you can keep your heart pliable.