I read something the other day about a topic that keeps getting attention, lately, even though it's hard to talk about it and is even more awful that it takes place. I'm talking about incest.

It's tough to imagine that a father would use his own daughter so perversely. And the truth is that it really doesn't happen all that often. A study done in Finland found that about two percent of the fathers were guilty of incest. (Clearly, any incidence is way too much!) But, step-fathers are fifteen times more likely to have an incestuous relationship. What we find in the U.S. seems to suggest this is indicative of our family situation, too.

This just says one more time that as parents, when we choose divorce, the lives of our children are drastically affected in the years to come. Sometimes, the impact happens in ways we might not imagine. It validates what the Bible has been saying all along: one man, one woman, for life.

Now I know some folks don't have a real choice in this matter and I'm sure not trying to beat anyone up unnecessarily. However, I want us to be reminded of God's plan and how hard we need to fight to stick to it. If there's an exception to the rule — and I know that there are situations where there has to be — we must be extremely careful about what happens to the children.

Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: "Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?"
"Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.' And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."
"Then why did Moses say a man could merely write an official letter of divorce and send her away?" they asked.
Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce as a concession to your hard-hearted wickedness, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery — unless his wife has been unfaithful." (Matthew 18:3-9 NLT)