The Better Question
August 24, 2026
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV)
Ever notice that on the Andy Griffith Show, nobody in Mayberry is married?
Well, almost nobody. Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Goober, Gomer, Helen, and Thelma Lou are all single. The only married man in that peaceful little town stays drunk the entire show. Maybe not being married is the real secret behind Mayberry's peace!
Marriage stirs things up. It always has. That is exactly why the Pharisees corner Jesus with a loaded question in Matthew 19: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" They want a technicality and a way out with no fault attached. But Jesus refuses to hand them one.
As He often does, Jesus answers a completely different question than the one they ask. Not how can you get out of a marriage, but why should you stay in one. He reaches all the way back to Genesis and God's original design for the very first couple, and He tells them: what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Marriage was His idea before it was anyone's opinion. And what He says about it should be where we start.
So go back to the beginning, where marriage began: with God. And let your reality today be shaped by His Word. Are you in one and want to get out? Are you single and struggling to believe in marriage at all? Open Matthew 19 and ask Him, "God, teach me to think about and respect marriage the way You do.”
Jesus never answered the question they asked. He answered the one that matters more, and it's the one your marriage needs answered too. Not, "How do I get out?" but "Why should I stay?" Ask Him that today, and let His answer be the one you build on.
Prayer: Father, I've spent too much time thinking about my own opinion about marriage instead of coming You. Turn my attention back to Your Word today. Show me what You hae said, and what it means to honor marriage the way You do. In Jesus' Name, Amen.