Walking with the Wise #25: Adultery & Regret

“Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

and you say, ‘How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.’" 

—Proverbs 5:8-14

We must be on guard against adultery. We need to stay away from those who appear to be a source of temptation. If we give in to adultery we give more away than we could have ever imagined. We give away our honor (v. 9), years (v. 9), strength (v. 10), and labors (v. 10). It has been said that respect takes a lifetime to gain, but a moment to lose, and those who commit adultery not only lose respect, but live with a lifetime of regret. We will remember the words of those who cared enough to warn us about the dangers of adultery, and hate ourselves for not regarding their counsel.

Stay away from temptation! You don’t have to give in! God will always give you a way out (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13). And if you find yourself being tempted, run! Joseph was confronted with the forbidden woman and he ran! He tried to stay away from her as best he could, but when the temptation became so blatant, he didn’t stop to think about it, he just ran (cf. Genesis 39:12). Paul gave the Corinthians (who had a great deal of sexual immorality in their midst) similar advice; he wrote,

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body”—1 Corinthians 6:18.

May we claim the promises of Christ to us and find a way out of temptation when it comes! May we keep our eyes on Jesus, knowing that He was tempted in every way we are, and yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). He identified with us, taking our sins upon Himself, dying in our stead, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). May we live in the power of Christ for God’s glory and our joy. Amen.