Faithful Promise

Matthew 5:27 ESV

Matthew 5:28 ESV

Exodus 20:14 ESV

Deuteronomy 5:18 ESV

It’s no surprise that God told (tells) His people not to commit adultery.

God is faithful.

Since being faithful is a main characteristic of our God, it makes sense that God would desire faithfulness as part of the DNA of man/woman.

In Matthew 5:27 when Jesus was teaching on the mount, He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’”

Be faithful.

Then in Matthew 5:28 He taught, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

I wish I could have been part of the crowd of people on the mount that day so I could have seen the look on their faces.

The people there that day had heard the words of Moses from the time before. In Exodus 20:14, it is written,“You shall not commit adultery.”

It was a command from God to the children of Israel. You shall not…

They had heard it read in Temple.

It was written again by Moses in Deuteronomy 5:18, “And you shall not commit adultery.”

They had heard those words in the synagogue growing up. They were taught those words by the Rabbi, and were reminded when they married. It was a commandment.

They knew God meant it. They knew it was serious. But they also knew the commandment had been broken. They remembered the pain and suffering that was a result of unfaithfulness.

They knew adultery carries a very special and cruel kind of unfaithfulness. See, when you give your most precious and private promise that you will only love one other person in that same way, it really means something, it means you will keep that part of yourself only to that person. It means you will cherish that person and that promise for as long as you live.

It means that once that promise is broken nothing will ever be the same again.

Everything changes.

That day on the mountain Jesus didn’t stop with the commandment that Moses gave them so many years ago.

Jesus said other words that day when He told them even if you look at another women or look at another man and think about what it would be like to be with that person in the same way, that means you break your word in your heart.

It means that you have been unfaithful to your partner.

That day on the mountain Jesus changed the whole nature of the commandment.

It meant pretending wasn’t acceptable.

Dreaming of being with another person in that way was the same as being unfaithful.

Loving another person in that same way goes against everything God intended for a union between two people. It means the union of two has suddenly become a party of three. But from that moment and forever, the second person (the wife or the husband) who has been left out will forever BE left out. There’s really no going back even if the unfaithful act happened in your mind.

God knew that everything would change in that relationship forever.

Reconciliation can happen, but it will take a lot of hard work to regain that sacred broken trust. At the same time after reconciliation there will always be an unspoken question that looms. Wondering if it will someday happen again is always ‘there’. Protecting ourselves is part of human nature.

God knew that as well.

Remember, God is faithful.

God knows what faithful means. It means you CAN trust. Once that trust is broken you can’t trust. It has to be earned back, and earning it back requires complete honesty and lots of time.

I believe that this kind of broken trust breaks God’s heart.

I believe Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:28 are intended as a reminder of what can happen when we even think about being unfaithful.

I think God weeps because He doesn’t KNOW unfaithful.

God doesn’t understand unfaithful.

God has NEVER been UN faithful to His children.

Consider this…GOD HAS NEVER BEEN UNFAITHFUL to you.

Spiritual Practice: God is Faithful

Consider what that means to you. Now, consider why God wants His children to give the gift of faithfulness to another.

In God, Deborah

acrazyjourney.com