Of the 55 uses of the word adultery in the Bible, the very first one that shows up is this: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Our Father is that blunt for a reason. Even though an affair can feel like a lifeline for a spouse stuck in an unhappy marriage, breaking your vow will not lead to life but instead to death.
In 1941 a woman from the Soviet Union was put in a Nazi concentration camp where she witnessed murders, lost family members, and endured Hitler’s horrors. But she survived, got married, and sadly was cheated on. And this Holocaust survivor said that the affair was the most painful experience of her life.
Maybe you or someone you know is aching for love, attention, or affection. If so, please remember that adultery butchers God’s blessings. It takes the “one flesh” of marriage and rips it in two. Committing adultery, as one author says, is like hosting a picnic with the people you love on an interstate. Eventually your sin will smash into your life like a cement truck, and the carnage will take years to heal.
If you have committed adultery, run to Jesus for salvation (John 8:11). If the thought has only crossed your mind, run to Jesus for protection. Plead with him, “Lead me not into temptation!” That’s a prayer he loves to answer with strength and self-control.
