MARRIAGE IS A covenant of commitment and not a contract of convenience. As long as you have pledged your allegiance to your spouse, you must be committed to him/her. God has warned you to stay awake. “Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come” Mk 13:33.

We are living in a society where sexual promiscuity is glorified and the pure ridicule and made to look inferior. No man is an island but it is better to be alone than to be in the midst of those who take pleasure in adultery. The stone you sighted coming your way must not blind you. It is better to lose your friendship with adulterers than to lose sight of God. Each time you think of committing adultery, think of King Solomon’s last days. God hates adulterers!

“Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put into his mind” 1b King 10:23-24.When we think we are strong and refuse to guard against our weaknesses, we fall easily, especially for the sin of the flesh which is regarded as one of the worst sins in marriage.

King Solomon of all people, regarded as the wisest man turned away from the Lord because of the sin of the flesh. “Therefore, the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant” 1 King 11:11.

“If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him” 1 Cor 7:13. Spouses should be able to challenge and support one another if they must succeed in the battle against the dreaded decease called infidelity. When the hunter learns to shoot at a flying bird, the bird will in turn learn to fly higher to avoid being killed by the hunter.

So, to aid your weak spouse, you have to set a record in his/her heart such that no other man/woman can excel or break. What are his/her needs and desires that would make him/her look elsewhere? Review this project regularly for the purpose of keeping your spouse away from infidelity and ask God who ordained marriage to see you through. It is the protective correlation of a chameleon that saves it from the hands of its enemies.

When you commit adultery and refuse to humble yourself before God and repent sincerely, you will commit more sins in your efforts to cover up. King David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife and tried to cover it up and in the process, he committed more sins. “So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, ‘I am with child.’ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In then letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die” 2 Sam 11:4-5, 14-15.

Owolabi prayed (during family morning devotion) to remain the head while his wife also prayed to be the head and not the tail. And this special prayer made his wife to starve him for too long a time, hence he wondered away and impregnated another woman in the process. “I don’t know how the girl got to know I was starving sexually” he concluded.  Any man who has the ability for flirtation naturally attracts the woman who has same tendencies. But the man insisted that his wife’s attitude contributed to his fall. If you make your spouse the foot-mat of your door on which you wipe your foot, you will encourage him/her to look elsewhere for solace!

When his secret deal with the woman was made open, his wife told every Dick and Harry in the neighborhood. And they all came to mock him. “When you are boiling yam, no one would hear the sound but when you are pounding it, everyone around will hear the sound” says an adage.

You may boast of God who has power to protect you from committing adultery but do not boast of your wisdom and power. Do not allow sexual urge to ruin your hope of going to heaven. With God on your side, you can avoid infidelity. After all, Miss Agnes Udofia of Ikot Udobia, Etinan LGA, Akwa Ibom State has remain a Virgin at 90 by God’s grace.

Have you been suffocating under the yoke of adultery? You cannot hide under one finger for too long. Hope for a change and walk up to Jesus who has the power to change people and things: He changed Mary Magdalene. “Come let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” Is 1:18.

JOHN ESENE