10 SEPTEMBER

MENTAL ADULTERY

“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28, NKJV)

Jesus teaches here that if the act of having sex with someone else, who is not one’s spouse, is sin, so is the intention. To be faithful to one’s spouse with the body but not with the mind is to break a trust that is very vital to a strong marriage. No wonder many marriages are breaking and many more are filled with external pretences!

Mental adultery is the repeated filling of one’s mind with fantasies that would be evil, if acted out. This would also apply to pornography. Sinful sexual actions are dangerous in terms of health and effects on relationships but sinful desires are also damaging. If left uncontrolled, the desires result in wrong actions and turn us away from God.

Without God, we are nothing. James warns us that “temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death” (James 1:14–15, NLT).

Oprah Winfrey rightly opines that “real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know, whether you did it or not.”

ACTION: How pure are your thoughts? Read Philippians 4:8 and apply the principle therein.

PRAYER: My Father, please grant me grace to seek your kingdom and your righteousness, even in my sexual desires, in Jesus’ name.