Tiger Woods

Dear Victorious,

What do you think of Tiger Woods' marriage? Is divorce inevitable? Is there a lesson in situations like this that the rest of us could learn?

Marilyn T. - Ocala, FL

Dear Marilyn,

I'm not sure what I think of Tiger Woods' marriage. To be fair, I simply don't have sufficient information with which to develop an informed opinion. I suspect that is true for everyone else as well.

What we do know about Tiger Woods and his marriage is that he's a broken man and that his brokenness appears to have deeply wounded his wife. The question is whether or not this man is sincerely repentant or not. Based on what we know today, that seems uncertain. Another question is whether this woman's heart is so wounded, so hardened towards him, that she will not consider the possibility of forgiving him. In my opinion both things would be required in order for them to salvage their marriage.

Perhaps the lesson in situations like this (public marriage failures) that we can all learn is that marriages are fragile, that sin has deep consequences (which most of us under estimate), and that sometimes the wounds are so deep that there is no turning back. Our hearts can become so hardened by the pain that sin inflicts that forgiveness is outside the realm of possibilities. When it gets to that point, divorce does seem inevitable - despite the fact that it's never the only option.