Inappropriate Relationships

Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)



Eternity-Inspiration for Monday 23rd March 1998


(Mat 5:27-32 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. {29} "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. {30} "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. {31} "Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' {32} "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Under the Law a cunning legalist could steal someone's wife and marry her without actually committing adultery. You just wooed her, reduced her affections for her husband until her husband got fed up and divorced her and then you could marry her. Jesus called this adultery of the heart. There seem to be a number of stages involved. Verse 27 - the injunction concerning adultery. Verse 28 - the attraction of a man to a married woman Verses 29,30 - the command to sever the inappropriate relationship. Verse 31 - the lax divorce customs of the day. Verse 32 - the divorce which drives the woman into her lover's arms so that she becomes an adulteress. Verse 32 - the inappropriate remarriage.

Churches need to be able to say to people "This is an inappropriate friendship we know you have not slept with each other but you are too close, back off, this is adultery of the heart." Many marriages would be saved if we gave stern straight teaching on inappropriate relationships. If a friendship is reducing your affections for your partner or coming into the emotional space you normally reserve for your partner then it is an inappropriate friendship - even if it is with your pastor, Sunday School teacher or counsellor. If you start to get a "zing" when you are near that person, or you look forward to meeting them more than you do your own spouse, or you have sexual fantasies about them - then run. As painful as it can be, though it seems like you are chopping off a part of yourself, it is better to break off a wrong relationship than to wind up in Hell.

Prayer:
Lord keep us well away from inappropriate relationships. Keep us from lust, seduction, self-delusion and folly that leads to sin. Give us the courage to break off those relationships in our life that do not honour You. May we always respect our own marriage and the marriages of others. Amen.

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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
Cults, exegesis, bible teaching, Christian life and leadership.
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