You shall not commit adultery.
If you are married, what are some qualities that affirmed you should marry your spouse? During the season of dating, most of us consider the person we will marry carefully because we know that decision will have serious implications on our life. The act of uniting two lives into one is exactly how God describes our relationship to Him, so He takes marriage seriously as an earthly picture of what He desires His people to be with Him. Adultery, put simply, is defiling the marriage bed. It ruins, taints, and violates what was intended to be a beautiful reflection of our relationship with God. It’s why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:15-17: “Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Far from it! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
When Paul spoke about the matter of adultery, he did not discuss what kind of temptation would be most compelling or give the details on all the ways people could break this command: he focused on how adultery breaks the unity between two people just as sin breaks our unity with God. If we wouldn’t want to unite ourselves with something other than Christ once we’ve seen how good life with Him is, then why would we do the same in marriage? We were not designed to be unified frivolously with every person we are attracted to or a person on a screen. When we are faced with these temptations, we can run to God, be honest with Him about our struggles, and trust His design for marriage and oneness.
- How have you seen the beauty of God’s original design for marriage?
- What are some ways you have experienced the impact of adultery directly or indirectly?
- Pray and thank God for His beautiful design of marriage and ask Him to help you value it the way He does.
