What is the importance of loyalty in a marriage?

Malachi 2:15-16Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

Matthew 19:8-9Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”

God commands husbands and wives to be loyal to each other. He does not merely suggest this. God desires what is best for us, our spouses, and our children. In severe instances, divorce is the only possible way—for example, in cases of unfaithfulness or abuse. The vast majority of marital conflicts, however, need not end in divorce. If we are firmly committed to lifelong marriage, when troubles come, we will look for a way through it, together, not for a way out.

Proverbs 5:15, 18-19Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. . . . Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.

1 Corinthians 7:2-4Because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

Hebrews 13:4Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

God tells husbands and wives to be faithful to each other, seeking to satisfy and honor each other.