From The Marriage Miracle, chapter 6
A Soft Heart is Attracted Only to Our Spouse
Never Call Temptation Love
Let us say a word to anyone who struggles with an intense temptation to stray from your vows. First, please realize that it isn’t love drawing you to the other person. It is actually illicit desire, acting as an emotional anesthetic, which promises to deaden the pain in your heart. Can we say this in the strongest and plainest terms possible? The strong attraction you feel to the other person is not from God.
What is tempting you is the world, the flesh, the devil, or all three at once. The Bible says those three are at war with the Spirit of God that lives within you, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want (Galatians 5:16-17).”
May we also say, the war going on inside, is a real conflict. It isn’t a harmless emotional struggle simply between the good and the best, boredom and excitement, or Option A or Option B. It’s an all out winner-take-all loser-is-destroyed war between good and evil, blessing and destruction, and ultimately life and death. Proverbs 5:3-5 lays it on the table, “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.”
About Cheryl Moeller
Cheryl Moeller has been married to her best friend Bob for 30 years. They are the parents of six children, one son-in-law, and three lively dogs. She uses her over-the-counter-top stand up comedy at women's groups and retreats, prays like it's her full-time job, writes a syndicated humor column, blogs about life with lots of kids at www.momlaughs.blogspot.com, and authors books such as Keep Courting: 100 Ways to Keep Courting After Marriage (purchase on their website) and Marriage Miracle (Harvest House 2010). Bob and Cheryl's passion is to connect two hearts for a lifetime. They have co-founded For Better For Worse For Keeps Ministries www.bobandcherylmoeller.com.
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