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.
For the thinking Christian!