The Bible speaks for itself where adultery is concerned.
Exodus 20:14 (KJV) “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Don’t do it!! It’s as simple as that. If you love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, then you will not defile your spouse in the act of adultery. Someone once said this to me, “You know why I would never cheat on my wife, cause I love God.” I thought he was going to say, “Cause I love my wife.” But he didn’t. He said he would never do it because he loved God. Put God first and foremost in your life, walk in the Spirit, and you will not dishonor your marriage vows.
Perhaps you’ve committed adultery, or are in adultery now. There’s hope for you. All you need to do is repent, ask God to forgive you, and return to your spouse, if they’ll have you. Start walking with God now, right this very moment, end that non-covenant relationship and do what is right in the eyes of God. The wages of sin is death. When we are in a life of sin we open the door for the enemy to wreak destruction in our lives.
But, what if my spouse is not willing to forgive me? That is between them and God, not you. If you have repented and are seeking reconciliation with your spouse, remember, they are hurting and healing will take time. Don’t rush them. If they are unwilling to forgive, then give that burden to God to work on their heart. You have done your part in repentance and seeking forgiveness.
Perhaps you are on the receiving end of adultery. By this I mean, you are the “other person” and you are receiving stolen goods. You are receiving in your bed something that does not belong to you. That sexual intimacy belongs to another person, the adulterer’s spouse, and you are partaking in hurting someone with the adultery you are in. And not only are you hurting their spouse, but you are hurting and shaming their whole family. If they have children, you are hurting them as well. Don’t you know that God has a divine plan for your life, complete with your own mate? Repent for your part in the destruction of a marriage, so that you can prosper in your own marriage. You do not want to reap what you have sown in this area. Get out of that non-covenant relationship and start walking with God. Let Him provide you with the love you are so desperate for. His love is all you need to have true joy, not that non-covenant, adulterous relationship you are in.
Perhaps you are the one hurting, the one who’s spouse has committed or is committing adultery. I know your pain and it cuts to the very core of who you are. Your thought life haunts you. You are filled with countless questions. “When did it start?” “I thought they loved me?” “How could they betray me like this?” Adultery hurts, there’s no doubt about it. Your marriage bed has been defiled, your spouse has dishonored you. Your spouse is giving someone else something that was meant for just you, and it hurts!! Here are two messages I recommend checking out.
I encourage you to read these articles because I know you will be blessed.
Perhaps the adultery in your life is in the form of pornography. Jesus had something to say about that: Matthew 5: 27-29 “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.” Pornography hurts men, it hurts women, and it hurts marriages. It is addicting and destructive. Once again, turn your eyes toward God. Seek Him, seek His grace and mercy. He can deliver you from the chains of pornography.
Scriptures on Adultery
Job 24: 15-24 (NAS) “The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ And he disguises his face. In the dark they dig into houses, they shut themselves up by day; They do not know the light. For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness, for he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness. They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the earth. They do not turn toward the vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned. A mother will forget him; The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered. And wickedness will be broken like a tree. He wrongs the barren woman and does no good for the widow. But He (GOD) drags off the valiant by His power; He rises, but no one has assurance of life. He provides them with security, and they are supported; And His eyes are on their ways. They are exalted a little while, then they are gone; Moreover, they are brought low and like everything gathered up; Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.”
Proverbs 6:22-33 (KJV) “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.”
Jeremiah 7: 9-10, 15 (NAS) “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’-that you may do all these abominations?”
Matthew 5: 31-32 (NIV) It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”
Matthew 19:9 (NIV) “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Galatians 5: 16-26 (KJV) “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!