About 3 years ago I met a beautiful young lady in need of Jesus. I witnessed to her and she accepted Him into her life and grew in her faith.

We began to date after her salvation and she confided in me that she had been married previously to a man who physically abused her and was unfaithful. She got a divorce and moved on with her life.

I struggled with the relationship after hearing about her divorce, many other believers told me that since she divorced for adulterous reasons, it was ‘okay’ for me to marry her. We’ve now been married two years.

I’m honest when I tell you that I truly love her, but I am bombarded with feelings of guilt and sin over the whole matter. It seems everything I read and hear on this subject is split down the middle; either that I’m living in adultery by being married to a divorced woman—even if it was for adulterous reasons—or they say we had every right to marry.

I have read and re-read Matthew 19:9 and Matthew 5:32 so many times that the words are starting to lose meaning. I somehow can’t get past “let no man put asunder what God has joined” and “A woman is bound to a man as long as he liveth.” It just seems so contradictory to the idea of remarriage.

I’m filled with guilty feelings. My conscience never feels clean anymore; and every time I read the Bible, I’m hoping to hit on a magic verse dealing with this matter. Sometimes I feel like I’m doing the right thing, and sometimes I feel like I’m deliberately sinning against God. I’m so overcome with these feelings that I don’t even know if I should be married anymore.

My husband lost his job recently and spiraled into despair.

He began drinking again, something he did before we were married. We have two small children and I’m scared for them and for our future. I can’t talk to my husband because he says he has it under control, then he gets angry and defensive. What should I do?