Why do so many marriages in modern society end in divorce? People confuse physical attraction with abiding love. When the attraction wanes, there is not much substance to hold the marriage together. People change in physical appearance as they age. Gaining weight, losing too much weight, wrinkles from too much sunbathing, accidents that cause loss of limbs, eyesight, or physical scars, are ways in which our bodies change in time. We begin to sag a little here or develop a roll of fat there, and before we realize it, we hardly resemble the person that we were. People who have a true love for each other never notice these changes taking place. Real love takes hold in the heart and mind of a person, allowing him to see the beauty of the person’s character. Who we are matters more than our appearance to those who love us unconditionally.

It is our reasonable duty to take care of our appearance to the best of our ability. We should have a desire to present ourselves in our best form to the person we share our most intimate moments with. Even so, life happens whether we agree with the consequences or not. Real love overcomes superficial differences, understanding that our journey through life will have highs and lows.

Another reason marriages fail today is due to careers that take one or both parties away from the family too often or for too long at a time. With excessive absences and more opportunities for infidelity, people give in to temptations that ultimately destroy the marriage. Any thing or person that divides a husband’s or wife’s commitment to the marriage leaves a weakness that can ultimately destroy it. Strong marriages become that way due to efforts made to create a strong bond that can withstand personal crisis or external difficulties. Some marriages drift along for many years even though the couple has ceased to be husband and wife.

The stigma of divorce has all but ceased to exist. Women make their own money and have more choices than women had thirty or more years ago. As more barriers to divorce are removed, the divorce rate will continue to climb. Today’s generation will have grown up in broken homes, with step-parents, step-siblings, half-brothers and sisters, and all manner of blended family. This generation will bear so few children who know what it means to live with a mother and father who have never been divorced. Children are influenced by the lifestyle of their parents. What is acceptable to the parents becomes an option for the children.

People enter into marriage with the idea that divorce is an option if things do not work out. There is no presumption of permanence. Attitude has everything to do with how a person perceives the ultimate outcome of his actions. Religion, morality, life expectations, and individual needs all play a part in whether a marriage is ever-lasting or ends in divorce. Many people find it harder to forgive unfaithfulness in an age rife with sexual diseases and unrepentant spouses.

The prediction is an endless rise in divorce as selfish children come of age to marry and find that it really does take two to make a marriage. They will discover that marriage is work and must be nurtured if growth is expected. They will have no real expectation that marriage is supposed to last a lifetime, having no example to learn from. They may never realize that, with every marriage-divorce-remarriage, they lose a part of themselves. What God has joined together must be ripped apart. When two people marry, they become as one. Each divorce rips a piece of the heart that is left behind, never to be fully mended.

There are times when divorce is the only answer that makes sense. For every legitimate divorce, there are five marriages that could have been saved if the couple had just realized that people must change themselves, not change who they are married to. Character flaws go with each of us into each new marriage. Until we learn what it is about us that cannot make a marriage work, we should refrain from making another vow that will surely be broken again.