Throw Away Culture

Hopefully this isn't too rambling but this was something on my mind today: the throw away mentality that has taken over this country. Maybe it extends beyond the US, I don't really know. It used to be that if something was broken, you fixed it. My dad has a lawn mower that is older than I am. Any time it breaks, he fixes it. I don't know how many times the engine has been rebuilt but it just keeps right on chugging.

Nowadays, if something isn't working right, people just throw it away. It isn't just objects either. We throw away our babies, our marriages, our friendships. We throw away anything that gets too difficult or too bothersome. People don't like to put forth too much effort anymore. Don't even get me started about cultures that kill their children. Don't agree with everything I say and do? Can't be friends anymore.

Instead of til death do us part its become until it gets too hard, until something better comes along, until I get bored, until we have one too many arguments. That wasn't God's plan for marriage. A husband and wife become one. The only reasons I have found in the Bible that are acceptable for divorce are infidelity and abuse...and not today's idea of abuse which is apparently the same as having an argument, seriously I have been told that if you and your spouse are arguing and you say something mean to each other in anger that is abuse, but, I mean, actual abuse. Physical or sustained mental abuse. Anything else, you work through it. Marriage takes work, period. I think too many people get married for all the wrong reasons these days.

Our marriage has not been easy, we have had countless fights and I mean serious screaming matches and worse though we have never physically attacked each other. We both have difficult personalities. I saw a meme recently that said marriage takes loving someone even on days you are struggling to like them. We have managed to always work through our issues and we have come out better for it. I have been with this man for 20 years and I can't imagine life without him. If I am going to go through life's ups and downs, I want to go through those things with him by my side.

And sometimes things can't be helped. Sometimes the person you thought would be with you always, walks out. Sometimes you try your best and your hardest and nothing works. Let me tell you that there is someone who will never leave you nor forsake you. You are His child and God wants to walk with you through the storms. You never have to be alone and His grace will cover you regardless of your past.

-The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. -Deuteronomy 31:8