
"When One Flesh Worships"
Genesis 7 Media Publishing
|
Cheating
click here for
More Articles for Marriage Help
Including Infidelity
Articles
brought to you by When One Flesh Worships
Who are you allowing to enter
into your inner court? Who are you allowing to enter into your outer
court? Only the priest of your home should enter into your temple
and be free to enjoy you. Only your priest (husband) should be
allowed on the grounds of your temple.
What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. — 1 Corinthians 6:19
I have been to many marriage retreats. I have yet to hear one
speaker discuss adultery. As a matter of fact it seems as if
Christian marriage retreats work extra hard on not discussing this
topic. After some thought, I surmised that maybe this was due to the
fact that if by some miracle a hurting couple attended the retreat,
it would not be advantageous to slice open festering wounds. My own
personal opinion is that a festering wound will never be made whole
until the abscess drains, antibiotic creams are applied, and with
time the miracle of healing occur.
One pastor did admit that marriage retreats run the risk of persons
coming to blows in their rooms and escalating altercations because
quite frankly there are a lot of marriages on the proverbial edge.
And locking two people on the edge together in a room over a weekend
could be chancy. Consequently, this chapter is on the edge, and many
would ask why risk breaking the beautiful flow of romance, love,
rhythm, Eden, and sensuality to discuss such a painful subject.
The risk is only worth it if (1) there is revelation to be shared,
(2) there is healing to be done and there are stagger-ing statistics
suggesting that this phenomena within marriage needs to be
addressed.
In 1953, renowned sex researcher Alfred Kinsey found that 50% of
husbands and 26 % of wives surveyed had cheated by age 40. Today
women under the age of 40 are just as likely to commit adultery as
men their age. Studies have suggested that the more sexual partners
a person has before marriage the more likely he or she is to cheat.
FORSAKING ALL OTHERS
The Bible says a man is to love his wife like God loved the church.
God gave his only son for the church and His son gave his life. He
nourishes and cherishes. But He said He is a jealous God. A man’s
wife is precious to him. We see the bridegroom and his bride as the
ultimate couple which parallels a man and his wife.
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God:
— Exodus 34:14
If you don’t want to be accountable, don’t get married. If you want
to continue to club and do your own thing and don’t like someone to
know where you are midnight on Friday night, then don’t get married.
Marriage is a yoke that is self-applied. A yoke was what bound oxen
together as they would tread the fields. Their necks were tied
together.
Lets say you and your friend “Roger” stop by Starbucks every morning
on the way to work for twenty minutes. You chit-chat and have a
latte, unwind and then go to work. No bigge except you are married.
That’s your perspective.
Your husband’s perspective is his wife is in Starbucks with some
“guy” every morning. This competitor is viewing the curvature of his
wife’s legs as she sits with him every morning. This other man will
observe his wife’s soft hands grasping the mug and supple lips as
she tastes the flavormatic dark nectar of her triple machiato. He
will watch the auburn highlights cast on her soft curls and then he
will inhale her soulful essence as her body oils mix with that
lovely perfume she wears.
This “dog” will laugh and smile as he appreciates her light brown
eyes and pink lips and smooth complexion. He probably is touching
her body as he scoots his chair closer to hers. He probably is close
enough to smell her breath. If this other man is in her presence for
ten minutes, it is ten minutes too long because she is someone
else’s wife.
You think I am being obsessive. You think I am exaggerating. OK.
Keep the male personal trainer. Keep the Starbucks daily dates.
One day you are going to look up and say,
“I don’t know what got into
my husband. He’s just tripping. He’s just wrong because I am grown
and I can have lunch with whoever I want to.”
This is difficult to explain. But I will try. If you are married–you
will have to act like you married! You will not be able to date
other men and share your deepest secrets with them. Period. Throw
out the tight fitting clothes. Stop wearing clothes two sizes too
small. Discontinue the spandex. You are married. Dress like it.
Husbands can be possessive. They don’t like their wives in the
company of other men for extended periods of time. You are playing
games with your anointing. I don’t know of any husband who wants
other men breathing on, sniffing on, and in his wife’s face.
The enemy is only coming to destroy and take your marriage out. This
means he is not going to waste his time trying to just get you and
your husband to disagree on what brand of bread to buy just to
aggravate you. Every time you go to dinner your husband wants steak
and you want Italian so you think the devil is messing. The devil
don’t mess. His main objective as the enemy is to destroy your
marriage.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly.
—John 10:10
Only the Priest Could Enter In
Excerpts from
When One Flesh Worships
Chapter 10
copyright
©
2007 J. T. Wright |