Faithful to a Whore

Hosea 1-3; Psalm 126; Proverbs 29:12-14

God’s faithfulness puts ours to shame.

It’s understandable when men or women divorce an unfaithful spouse. But in our culture, many divorces are the result of “offenses” besides unfaithfulness. Too often the reason given for divorce is “I’m not in love anymore”—a reason that itself betrays the lack of faithfulness not in the spouse, but in the heart of the one initiating the divorce.

But it is understandable, even permitted, divorce someone who has committed adultery. God’s standard of faithfulness is even higher, though, than this!

He tells Hosea:
Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes. – Hosea 3:1

The LORD loves even those who are unfaithful to Him. As long as we live, He is trying to convince us to turn back to Him, to be faithful to Him.

What a testimony it would be if more of us who are God’s children would demonstrate this degree of faithfulness to our unfaithful spouses! It would be extremely difficult, extremely painful. It would require walking by faith, trusting that God could work through our most difficult circumstances, aiming to demonstrate God’s loving faithfulness to people as Hosea did. It would require us to take Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5:43-48 seriously: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Father, teach us Your kind of faithfulness!

Does anyone have a story about a friend or neighbor who demonstrated this kind of faithfulness?