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My beloved. This phrase resounds throughout the Song of Songs. “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (Song of Songs 7:10). Here, possession is not domination; ownership is not reduction to an object.
In the language of love, “my” refers to the guarded gift; in the language of lust, “my” refers to an object of possession.
Christ knows our hearts. This is what makes the Gospel universal—addressed to all human beings, in all times and places.
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander” (Mt. 15:19). Laws and rules may constrain our outward behavior, but they can’t heal our distorted desires. The Gospel is aimed at the heart.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt. 5:17).
Taking another man’s wife was strongly condemned—but more as a violation of property rights than a violation of God’s design for marriage. This is why Christ appealed to “the beginning” when answering the Pharisee’s question about divorce.
Clearly, Christ considered adultery a sin. But when he turned to the accusers, he didn’t quote the Law—he spoke to their consciences. The law written on the heart can be deeper, and even more reliable, than an external law.
The Sixth Commandment, “Do not commit adultery,” had been obscured by layers of compromise and legalism. Christ wipes away these layers, revealing the true meaning of the commandment—a shining call to purity.
Isaiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel depict God as a spouse, united in love to Israel as a husband to his wife.
adultery is a sin against love.
What is marriage? A one-flesh union between one man and one woman. If polygamy were brought into the picture, the metaphor would lose all force.
Faithfulness can only be found in an exclusive relationship where husband and wife unite to become one.
“Do not lust in your heart after her beauty, or let her captivate you with her eyes” (Prov. 6:25).
He does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun. They see all the ways of men, and consider even the hidden places. (Sir. 23:16–19).
Lust is restless—it creates an insatiable desire to satisfy the body and its senses. It promises gratification and peace, but only adds fuel to the fire. In its restless pursuit of satisfaction, lust drowns out the voice of conscience and dulls sound thinking. Eventually, it exhausts the spirit and its prey is consumed.
lust as “desire for an object because of its value.” Jesus defines it as “adultery committed in the heart.”
In the mystery of God’s creation, sexual attraction is a call to communion. Lust is a lie.
Lust obscures the significance of the body and the worth of the person. Femininity and masculinity are languages of the spirit—complementary
True Christian belief has always affirmed the goodness of God’s creation, including the body, sexuality, and procreation.
Adultery is sinful because marriage is sacred.
The nuptial relationship is one of free, mutual giving. Adultery—whether of the body or of the heart—attacks the core of this union.
The Sixth Commandment cannot be fulfilled by “following the rules,” but only by purifying our hearts.
How can we become pure of heart? By restoring Christ’s lordship over our hearts and bodies and battling lust.
Christ seeks to liberate us from lust, redeeming the heart so that husbands and wives can truly love and give themselves fully to each other. Will we fear the severity of Christ’s words, or have confidence in their power to save us from lust? Embodied Morality The study of ethics is not just an intellectual exercise.
Sin clouds our ability to see the original meaning of the body, but it can’t erase the meaning itself.
If a man looks lustfully at a woman, he must not blame her for his sin. The woman’s body is not evil—even if she deliberately uses her appearance to tempt the man. (This is a point that seems to be lacking in the Old Testament Wisdom books.) Instead, her body is of a great value that, because of lust, is not fully appreciated.
This truth cannot remain in our heads—it must be lived in our hearts. It cannot be learned simply by reading a book—it demands a deep study of oneself. We
The path of self-mastery is not easy, especially for a person who has grown accustomed to giving in to his impulses rather than controlling them. If he perseveres, though, such a person will feel a growing sense of his own dignity.
He will begin to experience the body as a gift, and sexuality as a sign of communion—a reflection of God’s love.
Freedom, the fruit of self-control, is ...
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for love between persons. This is why love can only flourish where the...
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According to Jesus, purity is a matter of the heart. All that is morally good is pure; all that is morally evil is impure.
At this point in our reflections, let us redirect our focus from the Sermon on the Mount to the letters of St. Paul, seeking to learn how purity of heart is found in “living by the Spirit.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14). The
Christ sets us free so that we may love.
Living by the Spirit means serving others.
A person dominated by lust cannot be free.
Self-control is inseparable from purity of heart.
purity and impurity are matters of the heart—not
heart given over to Christ that expresses itself outwardly through self-control and acts of love.
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable. . . .
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life”
exercise and discipline.
bring our desires under Christ’s control, directing them, with his help, towards the true, beautiful, and good.
directing the body towards holiness and honor.
But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for one another. (1 Cor. 12:18–25)
needed because the body is evil—the truth is just the opposite. The body should be controlled with honor because it is worthy of honor.
sexual parts of the body are not unpresentable because of any dishonor. They are only unpresentable because of shame and lust—the fruits of sin.
shame has a positive aspect, encouraging respect for the body. “The parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty.” Though shame was a result of sin, it can help us overcome sin through self-control.
bodies with holiness and honor. Harmony in the body springs from harmony in the heart.
