photo by SallyBayRye
One day, while Jesus was traveling through Judea, some Pharisees seized an opportunity to try and trap him.
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
Any person with an inkling of common and moral sense, whether they were religious or not, could answer that question. The Pharisees, however, were trying to get Jesus to refute Moses’ command that a man could give his wife a certificate of divorce, thus setting him up for criticism and denunciation, knocking his cause flat on its back.
Jesus’ answer left them with no room for wiggling out of it. “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.”
According to Barna research, 33% of all born again Christians divorce, ninety percent of them after they convert to Christianity. The 1996 Census Bureau reported that the number of children living with both parents declined from 85% to 68% between 1970 and 1996.
The reality is, there are a lot of blended Christian families living in the US, my family among them.
Some blended families are the result of the death of one spouse, but the majority of them are due to the fallout of divorce. Either way, there are unique challenges that come with making a blended family work, including in the area of witnessing the gospel and discipling our children in God’s truths. There are different dynamics, different obstacles and a much stronger component of time involved.
Beginning with today’s article, I’ll be writing a nine-part series entitled The Unique Challenges of Blended Families. There will be three articles each week for the next three weeks, and I encourage you to invite your friends and family to TGMT to learn, ask questions and participate in the discussion.
We’ll look at what the roles of being a step-parent are (and they’re different for men and women), how to cope with a hostile or opposing ex-spouse, the power of being a modeling step-parent, understanding the dynamic of time, and looking for the guarantee that what you’re doing is going to work.
Tomorrow, though, I’ll talk about our family. Hopefully my history will be your gain.
Let others know about this series. Please email a link, post about it on your blog site, or let your friends know through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. There are a lot of blended families out there who need this information and encouragement.
Related Articles:
Joshua & Eunice, The Series
You Shall Not Commit Adultery
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
Any person with an inkling of common and moral sense, whether they were religious or not, could answer that question. The Pharisees, however, were trying to get Jesus to refute Moses’ command that a man could give his wife a certificate of divorce, thus setting him up for criticism and denunciation, knocking his cause flat on its back.
Jesus’ answer left them with no room for wiggling out of it. “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.”
According to Barna research, 33% of all born again Christians divorce, ninety percent of them after they convert to Christianity. The 1996 Census Bureau reported that the number of children living with both parents declined from 85% to 68% between 1970 and 1996.
The reality is, there are a lot of blended Christian families living in the US, my family among them.
Some blended families are the result of the death of one spouse, but the majority of them are due to the fallout of divorce. Either way, there are unique challenges that come with making a blended family work, including in the area of witnessing the gospel and discipling our children in God’s truths. There are different dynamics, different obstacles and a much stronger component of time involved.
Beginning with today’s article, I’ll be writing a nine-part series entitled The Unique Challenges of Blended Families. There will be three articles each week for the next three weeks, and I encourage you to invite your friends and family to TGMT to learn, ask questions and participate in the discussion.
We’ll look at what the roles of being a step-parent are (and they’re different for men and women), how to cope with a hostile or opposing ex-spouse, the power of being a modeling step-parent, understanding the dynamic of time, and looking for the guarantee that what you’re doing is going to work.
Tomorrow, though, I’ll talk about our family. Hopefully my history will be your gain.
Let others know about this series. Please email a link, post about it on your blog site, or let your friends know through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. There are a lot of blended families out there who need this information and encouragement.
Related Articles:
Joshua & Eunice, The Series
You Shall Not Commit Adultery
2 comments:
This series has my name ALL over it! I'll be reading!
We are a Blended family. I came to Christ 3months after having my first child, came home from a church a Christian and her father didn't want any part of it...so he left. I married a Christian 5yrs later and have 2children with him. I honestly do not know how folks deal with the blended family without the Lord's help because it is the only way our family deals with it. Our relationship is strong (BOTH families) work together for the common bond, my daughter. The road has not always been easy...but worth it. I work at the same company as her step-mother and that once had it's own challenges...but I am BLESSED that he chose the woman he did...because if I were to choose a stepmom for my daughter it would be her.
Post a Comment