Silas
Beloved of All
The turmoil you are describing in your neighborhood, the violence and confusion attached to a broken marriage, is deeply troubling. When a home becomes a place of threat instead of safety, and when rage spills over into the lives around it, something is clearly at work that goes beyond mere human conflict. The Scriptures tell us that our struggle is not ultimately against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of wickedness. So your instinct to bring this before the Lord in prayer and to rebuke the tormenting presence is right. Those spirits that seek to destroy, to sow envy and malice, and to steal peace from a household are real. But they are not idle, and they are not beyond the authority of Jesus Christ. He has given His people power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt us when we walk in that truth.
What you are witnessing, the meddling, the false imitation of love that turns into something degrading, the cycle of disgrace and abuse, bears all the marks of what Paul called the works of the flesh: strife, bitterness, outbursts of anger, and things that leave people ruined. Those are not the fruit of the Spirit; they are the fruit of a life given over to darkness. And it is true that if people persist in practicing these things, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the same passage reminds us that believers were once just like that: foolish, deceived, enslaved to passions, living in malice. The only difference is the transforming mercy of Christ. So we do not stand above our neighbors in judgment; we stand with them as people who desperately need that same mercy.
I want to speak plainly about the divorce you mentioned. Jesus was clear that from the beginning it was not God’s design for marriage to be broken. Moses permitted a certificate of divorce only because of the hardness of human hearts. Over time, even that provision was twisted until men could put away their wives for the smallest slight: a burnt meal, a disrespectful word, a glance in the street. That cheapening of the covenant still happens today. Yet Jesus also recognized that there is such a thing as a marriage that becomes a mistake from the start, built on impulse rather than wisdom, and that sometimes a spouse’s persistent sin makes the situation untenable. Adultery is one clear biblical ground. I would add that persistent, unrepentant violence and abuse is a profound violation of the one-flesh union. It is not God’s will for anyone to be trapped in a home where they are physically or emotionally destroyed, and the church should be a refuge and a help to the innocent, not a prison.
The confusion you feel, the sense that identities are being blurred and your own life is being dragged into the storm, is a classic tactic of the enemy. Fear itself is a torment, as the apostle John wrote. But we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Do not let your heart be troubled by the lies that you are somehow part of what these spirits are doing. You are not their instrument. Rebuke the bewitching confusion in the name of Jesus. Stand on the fact that if you belong to Him, you have the seal of God upon you, and the tormenting sting that may strike others cannot settle on you unless you open the door through unbelief or willful sin.
Pray for those caught in this broken relationship, the woman, the man, the children, anyone connected. Ask God to deliver them from the destructive passions that have enslaved them. Ask for protection for the vulnerable, conviction for the abuser, and a way of escape where needed. But also guard your own heart. Do not let the very real spiritual battle become an excuse to meddle or to take on burdens God has not given you. Love your neighbor as yourself, and that love sometimes looks like literally helping the person who has fallen among thieves, binding up their wounds and taking them to safety. At other times, it looks like interceding behind the scenes while holding fast to the peace Christ has placed in your own house.
Remember that divorce and remarriage are not the unpardonable sin. They are a failure to rise to the divine ideal, but the cross covers every failure when there is repentance. God’s mercy is wider than the wreckage of any marriage. And one day all the tormenting voices will be silenced. Jesus will come as He promised, and all the demonic forces that now gather to make war against His purposes will be gathered to their judgment. Until then, walk in the authority you have been given. Nothing shall by any means harm you. Love God, love your neighbor, and refuse to let the fear of what you see dictate the reality of your life in Christ.
What you are witnessing, the meddling, the false imitation of love that turns into something degrading, the cycle of disgrace and abuse, bears all the marks of what Paul called the works of the flesh: strife, bitterness, outbursts of anger, and things that leave people ruined. Those are not the fruit of the Spirit; they are the fruit of a life given over to darkness. And it is true that if people persist in practicing these things, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the same passage reminds us that believers were once just like that: foolish, deceived, enslaved to passions, living in malice. The only difference is the transforming mercy of Christ. So we do not stand above our neighbors in judgment; we stand with them as people who desperately need that same mercy.
I want to speak plainly about the divorce you mentioned. Jesus was clear that from the beginning it was not God’s design for marriage to be broken. Moses permitted a certificate of divorce only because of the hardness of human hearts. Over time, even that provision was twisted until men could put away their wives for the smallest slight: a burnt meal, a disrespectful word, a glance in the street. That cheapening of the covenant still happens today. Yet Jesus also recognized that there is such a thing as a marriage that becomes a mistake from the start, built on impulse rather than wisdom, and that sometimes a spouse’s persistent sin makes the situation untenable. Adultery is one clear biblical ground. I would add that persistent, unrepentant violence and abuse is a profound violation of the one-flesh union. It is not God’s will for anyone to be trapped in a home where they are physically or emotionally destroyed, and the church should be a refuge and a help to the innocent, not a prison.
The confusion you feel, the sense that identities are being blurred and your own life is being dragged into the storm, is a classic tactic of the enemy. Fear itself is a torment, as the apostle John wrote. But we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Do not let your heart be troubled by the lies that you are somehow part of what these spirits are doing. You are not their instrument. Rebuke the bewitching confusion in the name of Jesus. Stand on the fact that if you belong to Him, you have the seal of God upon you, and the tormenting sting that may strike others cannot settle on you unless you open the door through unbelief or willful sin.
Pray for those caught in this broken relationship, the woman, the man, the children, anyone connected. Ask God to deliver them from the destructive passions that have enslaved them. Ask for protection for the vulnerable, conviction for the abuser, and a way of escape where needed. But also guard your own heart. Do not let the very real spiritual battle become an excuse to meddle or to take on burdens God has not given you. Love your neighbor as yourself, and that love sometimes looks like literally helping the person who has fallen among thieves, binding up their wounds and taking them to safety. At other times, it looks like interceding behind the scenes while holding fast to the peace Christ has placed in your own house.
Remember that divorce and remarriage are not the unpardonable sin. They are a failure to rise to the divine ideal, but the cross covers every failure when there is repentance. God’s mercy is wider than the wreckage of any marriage. And one day all the tormenting voices will be silenced. Jesus will come as He promised, and all the demonic forces that now gather to make war against His purposes will be gathered to their judgment. Until then, walk in the authority you have been given. Nothing shall by any means harm you. Love God, love your neighbor, and refuse to let the fear of what you see dictate the reality of your life in Christ.
