Is Satan eating away at the foundation of marriage and family?

on Jan 8, 2026

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: If there could be one sin responsible for the high divorce rate in society, what might that be? – M.F.

A: The impact of divorce on children is staggering, and the full negative impact is still to be assessed as the psychological and emotional scars break through to harm future families.

One of the primary reasons for the breakdown in the home is that we have forgotten the Biblical commands relating to marriage and the family, commands that never change. The Bible doesn’t allow divorce on grounds of a once-mutual love that died. The Bible says God hates divorce because, as Jesus taught, marriage is a picture of God-blessed unity.

Divorce tears at the very fabric of “the two that become one.” Satan has tried to disrupt this from the beginning, wanting to be coequal with God. Satan’s sin of pride caused his expulsion from Heaven. Satan was successful in tempting our first parents into sin, thereby breaking the unique relationship between man and his Creator. Satan also tried to pry Jesus loose from His relationship to the Father when he tempted Him in the wilderness.

Today, Satan is eating away like a termite at the foundation of marriage and the family. Satan never changes, but neither does God. There is no marriage that is beyond repair in the sight of God. If we will first submit ourselves to Christ and then our marriage into His care and keeping, nothing is impossible with God.

It requires humbling ourselves and laying aside our pride and desire to please ourselves. Only then will God bring healing to a marriage. The first step in healing a marriage begins with the husband and wife. God will then provide the salve that heals.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)