Once Again, an Affair Ruins Everything
Nothing good ever comes from an affair. I mean NOTHING. In the 30-plus years I’ve been in full-time ministry, I’ve never seen an affair produce any good. Can and does God redeem even the worst marital decisions. Yes, I’ve seen him do it. But does one human betraying his or her spouse to engage with another ever yield good? No. Never.
Our most recent Exhibit A is former Director of the CIA David Patraeus Patraeus abruptly resigned his post on Friday after the FBI revealed that he had been involved in an affair with his biographer. And just like that, the man’s family is in shambles and his career is over. And what good has he wrought?
He’s thrown the Intelligence community into chaos and quite possible endangered national security
He’s embarrassed his boss, who just happens to be the President
He’s devastated his wife and family
He’s set a terrible example for those who view him as a role model
And he will be remembered as the guy who had one of the most powerful and high impact jobs in the world and lost it because he couldn’t stay out of someone else’s bed.
Solomon, himself the product of an adulterous relationship, knew firsthand the devastation that marital infidelity brought to a house. He wrote: “Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife? For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly,” Proverbs 5:20-23 .
And so I’m back to my first point: affairs never pay off, they never bring any good. There is no such thing as a justifiable affair.
But General Patraeus isn’t alone in his failure. Every year millions of American husbands and wives fall for the same lie. Without even a shred of evidence that says affairs bring true happiness, they jump into the sack with someone other than their spouse in the hopes that they are somehow the grand exception, that somehow they’ll be the 100,000,000,000,000th of 1% where the affair is actually best for all concerned. But they’re not. All their sin does is what Jesus said it would–kill, steal and destroy.
Friends, I don’t fault General Patraeus for being a sinner. My sin is no different from his. I am just as capable for wreaking relational havoc with my own decisions as he has with his. We are all on equal footing in that category. I just want to ask those of you who are currently in an affair or are dangerously close to having one to rethink your logic. What makes you think you’re the exception? You might as well jump out of an airplane without a parachute and hope that you’ll have the exceptional soft landing.
No good–none–will come from your affair. End it now and save everyone even more heartache.
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