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To work through conflicts, families must
employ clear communication, patience,
and love (Visher, Visher, & Pasley, 2003).
All families experience stressful times. It is
important not to blame every problem or
stressful situation on the stepfamily
situation itself. Husbands and wives fight,
children misbehave, adolescents rebel and
eventually leave home. Jealousy, rejection,
guilt, and anger, while more intense in
stepfamilies, exist in all families.
Understanding the negatives, as well as the
positives of life in a stepfamily can
decrease the disappointment and increase
the enjoyment of this complicated family
form (Visher, Visher, & Pasley, 2003).

The Church’s Response to Remarriage

The church can be of assistance to

stepfamilies. First, the church staff and

congregation must display a nonjudgmental

attitude—stepfamilies have enough guilt to

deal with. The church can provide

stepfamilies a loving, supportive place to

grow. Classes on building strong

stepfamilies can help normalize some of the

transitions which occur in these families.

Parenting support groups are helpful for all

parents and can include some of the

parenting variations stepparents encounter.

The number of stepfamilies is increasing. By

embracing, mentoring, and loving these

families, the church can minister to those

who most need Christ’s love.

Chapter 13

It is clear that God hates divorce. He is

a covenant-making, covenant-keeping

God. It is also true God made allowances

for divorce. When questioned by the

religious leaders of His day, Jesus

explained God allowed divorce because of

the“hardness”of men’s hearts (Mark

10:5). While divorce is a product of sin,

and it has lasting consequences, it isnot

unpardonable. Jesus Himself allowed for

circumstances in which divorce, though

the exception, was an allowable choice

(Matthew 19:8); and so divorce Jesus

would allow cannot be sin.

But even when divorce is sinfully

practiced, Romans 3:23 gives us good

news,“all have sinned and fall short of

the glory of God.” This means everybody.

Romans 5:12 further explains,

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world

through one man, and death through

sin, and in this way death came to all

men, because all sinned.” This is a

reference to the lasting consequences of

sin—since the origin of humankind. Our

hope comes from Romans 5:8: “But God

demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died

for us.”We can also find hope in Romans

A Christian Perspective