Sticking Together

Sticking Together

You must not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 5:18

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

Hebrews 13:4

You have heard the commandment that says, “You must not commit adultery.” But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28

Have you ever sealed an envelope and then tried to open it again? As you try to pry it open, it rips and tears, with some parts of the flap still sticking to the envelope. This is similar to what happens when a person has sex outside of marriage: It’s like two people attach and then get ripped apart. And nothing attaches people as deeply as sexual intercourse does. When they “pull apart,” there are pieces of them left behind, creating a lot of damage, pain, and regret. And later, this makes it difficult for them to fully attach to someone else.

God wants to save us from this pain. His design is for us to become “attached” to one person we can be completely committed to for life. Jesus said, “‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Matthew 19:5-6). He knows that a marriage with two people seeking to be faithful to each other is what will make us deeply happy, and that attaching ourselves to people outside of marriage will ultimately bring only misery.

Not only does God want us to avoid the heartache and regret of betrayal, he wants marriage to be a living illustration of the kind of faithful love relationship Christ wants to have with us. He wants the world to be able to see the way Jesus loves his people reflected in how we love each other.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How does it hurt a relationship when one person breaks his or her promises?

In addition to sexual faithfulness, what does it mean to be faithful in marriage?

How does adultery show selfishness as well as a lack of trust in God?