I once saw an ad in the Houston Post that read, “Divorce only $95.00.” Then it gave the office hours and the toll-free number to call for help. The people who placed that ad should be sued for false advertising. Ninety-five dollars won’t begin to touch the cost of divorce. It may cover the down payment, but we will all be paying for the divorce as long as we live. There are hidden costs that are seldom mentioned or calculated when people consider a divorce.
Divorce costs children more than 95 dollars. The Chinese have a proverb that says, “There are very few whole eggs in a broken nest.” Divorce leaves emotional scars on children that no plastic surgery can remove. Every child needs and deserves the love, supervision, presence, and example of their own two parents. Divorce deprives them of this. Parents are worth more than 95 dollars.
Divorce costs the community more than 95 dollars. Society and the nation are nothing but the sum total of all individuals and families. When one part of society collapses, the whole structure is weakened. One hole in the dam may lead to the destruction of all of us. No man is an island. Divorce is everyone’s problem. All of these things must be added to the final bill.
Divorce costs women more than 95 dollars. Guilt, loneliness, heartache, a sense of failure, and economic hardships are only a part of the price that women have to pay for divorce. Sometimes the price is so high that it completely breaks them emotionally. Divorce costs a man more than 95 dollars. He is usually deprived of the joy of raising his children. He has to support two households. And he suffers many of the same emotional traumas that women do. These hidden costs can add up to emotional bankruptcy.
There is an alternative.
It involves letting Christ rule and govern your life and your marriage. Rather than costing, it pays. It pays the dividends of joy, peace, happiness, and fulfillment. Don’t be taken in by the “cheap divorce” ads. Give your life and your marriage to Christ instead.