Why Cheating Never Equals Happiness

temporary excitement includes lifetime of pain…

'But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. ' Proverbs 6:32

If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. Leviticus 20:10

“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14 / Deuteronomy 5:18

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ Matthew 5:27
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28

21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:21-23

when reading these scriptures it does bring back bad memories of my past. while i have learned from my mistakes and have worked on not acting upon the ‘sin nature’ that caused me to stumble before, i do know, from time-to-time, that my eyes tend to wander. while others (non-believers) may think that it is only “looking” and that there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with it, scripture tells us otherwise.

from learning in The Word that it is a heart condition, i’m keenly aware that i still am a work-in-progress in this area of my walk, even if i don’t do it all the time - even once in a while is a real problem. while i would like to blame my unconscious mind for simply turning my head and glancing, i know that i had done it for so long in my past that it still happens. fortunately, i do catch myself and try to redirect my attention elsewhere.

then there is the unwanted advances from other women. whether helping someone, speaking to them in a manner that they never experienced, or whatever it is and from there they start giving you more attention than warranted. some of this may only be in your head - that they are coming onto you, but at other times it is real. this is where i, or even men in general, have to be closely aware of our interactions with someone other than our spouses.

there was a time that a very pretty girl in a company that i was working for had asked me if i was open to meeting one of her friends who was interested in me. while she knew i was married, she still kept asking questions on whether i was open to the idea. if i was not saved, my pride would have probably wanted to know who this person was and what did they look like. i knew the pain and hurt that i caused sachi, yujin, and myself from my past transgressions and it never crossed my mind to entertain the offer. told her no thank you and reminded her that i was in a committed relationship.

even though i’ve never murdered someone, the Bible does teach us that it adultery is equally on the same level as if i had. this is a great reminder that this type of sin does kill (even if it isn’t literally) - your soul, relationships, and breaks a covenant between you, God, and your spouse.

what i do now is work on not letting my eyes wander by focusing on what i’m doing and not letting anything distract me. while i would like to say it is easy, it is being intentional that has allowed me to improve in this area.

start talking to Jesus, put worship music on, call a friend, or remind myself of my family and is it worth losing everything for a that moment.

dear Heavenly Father, thank you for my family and the 2nd, and many other chances to do things right. not that i deserved any of it, only that you are a God of love, mercy, and grace - undeserved, un merited favor. thank you, Lord Jesus, that my family has healed and forgiven me for the past as you have. please help guide me through your Holy Spirit that i won’t repeat the past. may my heart and eyes be in alignment with yours. in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!