Contrary to some reports, a careful review of marriage statistics by a Harvard trained researcher, Shaunti Feldhahn, has good news about church marriages. It reports that the divorce rate for people who practice Christian faith together regularly may be as low as 15-20%. For those who also did not co-habit before marriage, the rate may be as low as 5-10%. It makes a huge difference if we practice our faith together by attending services regularly. Here’s the link.
http://www.charismanews.com/us/44398-church-divorce-rate-way-lower-than-anyone-thought
Why might this be so? Here are a few of my ideas.
- Submitting ourselves weekly to God’s Word read and expounded and participation in personal and cooperate prayer gives the Holy Spirit opportunity to whisper in our minds and hearts the little corrections and admonitions that we need to help us to love one another well. Proper Christian worship combats pride, selfishness and materialism/greed/sensuality.
- The group atmosphere and the teachings affirmed by Christian churches shape our personal values in the direction of solving our marital issues, valuing our spouse, learning to say ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I love you,’ and other such skills that strengthen relationships. In short, the Bible teaches us to love.
- Relationships within the community provide friendships, often assist in life’s stressful crises and model marital success.
- Often pastoral care and coaching from church staff or trained lay persons is valuable to individuals or couples going through hard times.
- The marital success stats of Christian couples are more evidence that God lives in and among his people. God is with us! God is blessing his people with peace. The first fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence is love (Gal. 5:22).