It's About the Heart: What Jesus has to say about Adultery
Hi Sweet Friend!
I hope you are seeing and experiencing God's blessing today, wherever you are. I'm being blessed with lots of wind today in Wyoming. I love it though, because the last of the orange leaves are "dancing" their way to the ground. It's actually really beautiful to watch and be amazed at God's beauty displayed in His creation!
Today we are continuing our look at the commands of Jesus. We are going to pick it up in the Sermon on the Mount.
Adultery
In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
Whoa! This sounds harsh. What's He really talking about here?
Kingdom Righteousness
When we became a child of God, we were made alive in Christ. Our old self is dead, and we are a new creation. Because of this, Jesus is giving clarification to the original Ten Commandments.
Jesus is saying, you want to draw the line of morality at an action, but I'm telling you, unrighteousness (wrong choices) begins in the heart. This includes everything: thoughts, flirting, "day-dreaming," joking with others about that person, looking at them with lust, pornography, etc.
Unfortunately, today, there are all kinds of ways to lust after another person. As Christians, we need to pay attention to the words of Jesus here.
Why would He draw the line at thoughts and not actions?
Jesus's Love
Bible theologian Matthew Henry puts it this way: "If painful operations are submitted to, that our lives may be saved, what ought our minds to shrink from, when the salvation of our souls is concerned? There is tender mercy under all the Divine requirements, and the grace and consolations of the Spirit will enable us to attend to them.*"
In other words, He wants to protect us the bondage and consequences of sin. It is His mercy and love that stands out in this command.
Training in Righteousness
This is a great, though tough, topic to talk to your teens and preteens about. It's important that they learn early on to view others as image-bearers of God.
Out of love for Jesus, respecting His creation, and keeping their eyes on Jesus through those turbulent hormonal years, kiddos need to learn where Jesus stands on the value of a person. They also need to see that their identity is not in who likes them, but in how Jesus loves them with an unchanging love. Rom. 8:35-39
It's so hard! As a former teacher of middle and high school students, I can attest that these years are difficult, both for kids and parents, yet formative in how they will treat others into adulthood.
You play an important and vital role in training them in righteousness.
To close, I want you to really see that this command is for our good. It protects us from painful consequences, and it offers an opportunity to teach our kids how to stay close to the heart of Jesus.
You are loved. You are seen. You are valued. If you are struggling with this command, I encourage you to bring your heart and pain to Jesus. Confess and repent. He always, always, always, desires restoration and redemption. The most clear example is His sacrifice on the cross to provide payment for our sins.
I know this can be a sensitive subject, so thank you for hanging in there with me today. May your day be filled with the peace and joy of Jesus!
In Him,
~ Stephanie
StephanieMBullock.com
* Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Mt 5:27.