Marriage is Good, Adultery is Bad

         "Furthermore, it has been said, ' Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."

                        Matthew 5:31-32

    Many of us grew up understanding adultery as a physical act between a married person and someone who isn’t their spouse. But when Jesus teaches on the Sermon on the Mount, He moves past external actions to expose internal realities. It’s not just about what we do—it’s about what we desire.

    Marriage is more than shared last names or bank accounts. It’s a sacred covenant. Just as Christ is eternally faithful to His Church, marriage calls two people to mirror that same faithfulness to one another. God’s design was never casual connection—it was lifelong, one-flesh unity.

    Still, life gets messy. Hearts grow distant. People fall out of affection and feel trapped. That’s why, in Deuteronomy, Moses allowed divorce—not because it was God’s ideal, but because people were hard-hearted. Jesus later clarifies that only infidelity can justify breaking this sacred bond—otherwise, divorce leads to adultery and breaks God's command.

    God desires that the hearts of his children come back to being soft and pliable, and when we have a heart that is hard, the world has its ways to creep in a distort what God has said about a loving, sacred covenant. We must be diligent to not allow impure thoughts to build a stronghold in our life. Whether we are married, single, young or old, God wants us to strive towards a heart that is pure, and when our heart remains pure, our thoughts will follow. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey through the Sermon on the Mount