Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28
"Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished." Proverbs 6:25-29
Our society is spinning out of control sexually. It seems more and more that we’re bombarded with sexual, promiscuous imagery whether it’s on television, at the movies, on the internet, in fashion or in magazines. The world can’t get enough sex. It obsesses over it and craves more and more of it. And Satan is always ready to keep fanning the flames of our desires. Consider these statistics:
** Conservative infidelity statistics estimate that "60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will have an extramarital affair. These figures are even more significant when we consider the total number of marriages involved, since it's unlikely that all the men and women having affairs happen to be married to each other. If even half of the women having affairs (or 20 percent) are married to men not included in the 60 percent having affairs, then at least one partner will have an affair in approximately 80 percent of all marriages.
** 2 out of 3 women and 3 out of 4 men admit they have sexual thoughts about co-workers.
** 86% of men and 81% of women admit they routinely flirt with the opposite sex.
** 75% of men and 65% of women admit to having sex with people they work with.
** It is estimated that 53% of all people will have one or more affairs during their lifetime.
** The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families states that "approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet.
** In a MSNMC survey, one in 10 respondents said they are addicted to sex and the Internet, according to an online survey of 38,000 Internet users.
** Only 46% of men believe that online affairs are adultery.
These are just some of the numbers and when you consider the number of people who would not be honest in admitting sexual immorality, they are epidemic. One thing is for certain…lust is burning a hole in our hearts, minds and souls and is putting us in disfavor with God.
It’s little wonder then that God said, "You shall not commit adultery." In biblical times, the adulterous actions were primarily physical in nature. If you had sex with someone else’s wife, you committed adultery. And that was the definition of adultery until Jesus came and expanded it, just as He did the commandment on murder.
For Jesus said, "I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Wow! OK…men. Anyone who has not committed adultery under Jesus’ definition? If so, I would like to meet you. I think if we’re truly honest with ourselves, we can remember a time when we were just on fire for a beautiful woman we saw on television, in the movies, in print, on line, in the workplace or maybe just while shopping. We seem to have an innate weakness to sex and Satan seeks to exploit that in us. And ladies, this applies to you too. I’m sure you have looked at a handsome man and started to feel a bit ablaze around him. For all of us, Jesus gets to the root of the issue. He attacks lust. For lust is the beginning symptom or adultery just as anger is the root symptom of murder. Address and correct the root and the action doesn’t happen.
So how do we address and combat our lustful tendencies?
The bible gives us an awesome example in Joseph. You’ll recall that he was Jacob’s favored son but his brother’s hated brother. In fact, they hated him so much that they sold him off as a slave to a group of Ismaelites and then told their father that he had been killed.
Well, Joseph ended up being purchased by one of Pharoah’s officials, Potiphar, and did such a great job that Potiphar placed Joseph in charge of his household. All was looking great for Joseph except for one thing: Potiphar’s lusting wife. Scripture tells us that she saw Joseph as "well built" and "handsome." So she approaches him and wants him to have sex with her, a classic example of adultery. But Joseph rebuffs her advances and makes a powerful statement when he says, "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" And it wasn’t that Joseph just said what he said. He backed it up with his actions. Scripture tells us, "He refused to go to bed with her or even be with her." In other words, Joseph distanced himself from the source of seduction.
Question: Since we all can probably be found guilty of violating the adultery commandments of God and Jesus, how could we do such a wicked thing and sin against God? The answer…because we’re sinners but we can’t use that as an excuse. We need to realize our shortcomings, repent of our failures, receive God’s forgiveness, and then take positive action to repeat failing again. Like Joseph, we need to refuse to be in the presence of what might tempt us toward sexual failure. If it’s in the television shows you watch, stop watching them. If it’s in the movies you watch, stop watching those movies. If it’s the internet, put in controls that will block access to pornography and other sexual materials. If it’s in magazines, cancel your subscription or stop buying them.
Just as easily as we make the choice to be unfaithful, we can likewise make the choice to be faithful. The truth of the matter is that God ordains relationships and blesses us with the chance to share special love with one another. Once we marry, He permits us to take that love to a higher plane when we can consummate our love for one another physically and emotionally through sexual relations. It’s not that the Lord didn’t want us to have sex but He wanted us to have it in the proper context. It was meant to be special and reserved for a man and woman in marriage…an act only shared with one another.
So what do we do with this commandment and the expansion given by Jesus? Well, just like the commandment on murder, we are to embrace it…cherish it…obey it. For Jesus knew that the root of adulterous action came in the way of lust. Remove the lust within and you can eradicate adultery. The Lord is standing by to help you accomplish this. Trust Him, love Him and allow that unadulterated love to spill over to your personal life. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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1 comment:
Amen. Am Blessed By This
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