God loathes adultery.
We live in a world where it’s almost taken as a matter of course.
We see it on TV dramas. We see it in movies. We read about it in books. We see it in gossip magazines and even read about it in the newspaper.
But God loathes adultery.
Why? Because it breaks down the foundation of something that should never be broken: oneness between husband and wife.
A oneness not only in flesh, but in spirit and mind as well.
A oneness that should only be shared between husband and wife is now shared with someone else.
Adultery breaks down the trust between husband and wife and almost always breaks up the relationship.
God loathes that.
Most people think of adultery as merely the sexual act. But it usually doesn’t start there. It starts in the heart.
It starts with pornography. Or with fantasizing about being with another person.
It starts with a woman sharing her marital problems with a male friend she’s attracted to.
Or a man sharing his marital problems with a female friend he’s attracted to.
There was a famous Christian singer who got divorced several years ago. But even before she got divorced, there were rumors flying around that she was seeing another man.
She eventually divorced her husband and married that man.
She would say later that before the divorce, she and that man never did anything inappropriate, probably meaning that they never slept together. I believe her.
But considering how quickly she married the man after her divorce, not to mention the rumors that were flying around before the divorce, it’s hard to believe that she hadn’t been committing adultery in her heart long before.
The Pharisees once asked Jesus about divorce.
Jesus told them,
“At the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’
‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’
So they are no longer two, but one.
Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Mark 10:5–9)
Later when his disciples asked him to explain more, he said,
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.
And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:11–12)
People have different ideas on exactly what Jesus meant by divorce, remarriage, and adultery.
But one thing I can say with absolute conviction is this: if you already have in mind the person you’re going to marry when you divorce your spouse, it doesn’t matter whether you slept with that person or not.
In the eyes of God, you have committed adultery.
Maybe I’m wrong about this singer. I will say that her husband has had drug problems throughout his life and she stuck with him a long time despite that.
From all I’ve heard, they tried hard to save their marriage over the years. There may have been legitimate reasons for the divorce.
But the rumors before the marriage coupled with her actions afterward make me very skeptical about the condition of her heart at the time of the divorce.
According to her husband, he was very surprised when she filed for divorce.
But at any rate, my question is this: Do we loathe the idea of adultery as much as God does?
Or do we just kind of say, “That’s how it is these days”?
Do we allow even the slightest hint of adultery in our hearts?
Or do we banish it the moment it comes into our hearts?
As Paul wrote,
“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity…because these are improper for God’s holy people.” (Ephesians 5:3)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 