Taking It A Step Further: God's Definition of Adultery



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One thing I’ve noticed in raising my kids—and in simply living my life—is that the way the world defines certain issues and topics is not the way that God defines them. For example, the dictionary defines adultery as: sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his/her spouse. But God’s Word describes adultery somewhat differently from the dictionary. Taking it one step further, the Jewish Law of the Old Testament calls it: any unlawful sexual intercourse. This would include fornication (sex between unmarried people) as well.

But hold on, don’t stop there. In the New Testament, Jesus, when He was teaching His disciples one day, took the definition yet another step further:

“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)

Hmmm. So that means viewing pornography belongs in the definition of adultery, too. Well, that certainly puts a different spin on it. How would your son react if, when you're having one of those important talks with him about life issues, you explained to him that viewing pornography is committing adultery? And that all manner of infidelity (disloyalty, marital unfaithfulness) is the kind of life, King Solomon warned, that leads to death?

It's not just pictures. It is leading him to death.

Does your son know he has an enemy? Have you told him? Do you really understand this yourself?

Satan dresses up sin. He makes sin look attractive and enticing. As moms, we must help our boys understand that the world has targeted their sensual appetites, making everything easily available in order to satisfy them. As they grow into manhood, they have to learn how to access what is just as easily available to them as a child of God: self-control. It is when a man does not control himself that he succumbs to the sensual, and to death.
Death of a family.
Death of a dream.
Death by guilt.
Death by regrets.

Let’s pray together today that our sons won’t be fooled by death dressed up.
And if they are? Well, let's pray too that we will love them unconditionally, that we will not react in fear or anger, that we will do whatever we can to help them be overcomers, and that we will trust God to do the work that only He can do in their hearts.

Check back tomorrow for some real, practical strategies for helping our sons with living a pure life in today’s world. Ladies, we've got to do better than lecture...we've got to show them what it looks like, what it acts like, what it sounds like, and what it thinks like.

(Check out my Bible study for boys, Dig Deep: Unearthing the Treasures of Solomon's Proverbs. The Psalmist noted that the key to living a pure life was in studing God's precepts, or principles. Studying God's Word is life-changing!)



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