We might be surprised at how much heartache and trouble can be prevented in lives by taking this wise counsel!
Let's say you're a married man with a wife and children at home, and a good-looking woman at work begins telling you how wonderful and handsome you are. What do you do in a situation like that?
You let discretion rise up within you and say, "You're already almost in trouble. Avoid this woman." Then you remove your foot from evil and get out of that situation as quickly as you can!
Why is that type of situation so dangerous? Because often married life can seem to become monotonous and unexciting. For example, when the husband gets up in the morning, maybe his wife doesn't tell him how wonderful he is.
She may not even talk much to him at the breakfast table. She may be too busy getting her children ready for school or getting ready to go to work, doing what a busy mother is expected to do.
Then the husband goes to the workplace and interacts with a good-looking young woman who is looking for a husband and doesn't care if the man she finds already has a wife. This girl is looking for a home.
She begins to flatter him, telling him how smart and handsome he is. And if he believes her words, he's going to be in trouble! He may think, My wife never tells me that. In fact, she tells me everything I do wrong.
That's how the devil's trap is sprung. I'm warning you, don't go for it!
So what if you're married and you begin to get too close to someone of the opposite sex? The very first time wisdom and discretion rise up in you and say, You're getting too friendly with this person, immediately shut the door on the relationship.
Don't wait and say, "Well, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just enjoying the fellowship of this person." Don't let the situation go on until it becomes a bigger problem.
Let discretion rise up within you and remind you, Hey, I'm married. I love my spouse. I love the Lord. I'm going to walk in God's ways of wisdom and avoid this trap before I get into trouble!
I'm telling you, you can't afford to even flirt around with the thought of adultery. It's an extremely strong and dangerous force. Just turn away from the path of evil. Follow wisdom's counsel: "Avoid the very scenes of temptation" (Prov. 5:8 AMP).
You don't have any business enjoying someone else's company of the opposite sex if your spouse isn't there with you. You're playing a deadly game, and the consequences are terrible to consider.
Look at some of those consequences: "Lest you give your honor to others and your years to those without mercy.... And you groan and mourn when your end comes" (vv. 9,11 AMP).
The Bible also talks about the honor of intimacy that should be reserved only for your spouse: "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4).
I hope you're getting an idea of how serious the sin of adultery is to God. He expects the marriage covenant to be honored.
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
