Do you know the difference between love and lust? Chris Brannon continues in our series and helps us understand the difference between the two. He talks about what Proverbs says about the consequences of living out our lust. Also what it says about love. Love sees the soul and desires it, taking whatever body accompanies it. When you view each other through the eyes of love, you see as God sees. Lust disregards the person and craves the physical. It corrupts your marriage, but love vigilantly guards it’s purity. By choosing love over lust, you are choosing God’s way, which always leads to life.
For Christians, the answer has to be complete “moral fidelity”. Some would say that we are faithful so long as we have not touched, kissed or made love with someone who isn’t our spouse. However, before physical infidelity becomes an issue, there are two precursors: mental and emotional unfaithfulness. In all cases, infidelity violates a trust and breaks a bond. Chris expands on what mental and emotional infidelity are and the damages they can cause.
Knowing all of this, how do we exercise faithfulness? First of all, we must practice mental purity. We must also have relational guards! Everyone should know that you are happily married! Be open and talk about potential “threats” with your spouse. Morally preempting is another exercise. Many people think it’s ok for a married person to receive emotional support from and opposite-sex work colleague over lunch. However, doing so blurs the lines of appropriateness. What it comes down to is that we must be responsible for our own thoughts and actions!!