Why do you have an affair? (2)

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17).

            I heard this from someone today.  The 99% nurses in a country want to go to work abroad and about 98% of them who are married have affairs when they go abroad.  When I heard that, I was shock.  How could it be that many?  No matter how many people are having affairs these days, I didn’t know it was that many.  It is a serious problem indeed.  Why are there so many affairs?  I have found out why people are having affairs based on Proverbs 5:8.  The reason is because they aren’t far away with people whom they suppose to and they aren’t close to people whom they suppose to.  In other words, those who have affairs do so because they are close to other women whom they need to stay away and they aren’t close to their wives whom they must be closed to.  The man who has an affair doesn’t love his wife faithfully (v. 15) and rejoice in the wife of his youth (v. 18).  And he isn’t always satisfying with her breasts and isn’t captivated by her love (v. 19).  That’s why he is giving his affection to another woman, embracing the bosom of another man’s wife and giving birth to a child (vv. 16, 20).

                I would like to think of another reason why the man is having an affair from Exodus 20:17 – “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  Obviously, God has commanded that “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.”  But why is the man coveting his neighbor’s wife?  The cause is his covetous heart.  Since he has covetous heart, he isn’t always satisfied with the breasts of his wife (Prov. 5:19).  Not only that, but if he has covetous heart, he begins to think beyond his means.  He begins to lust for another woman.  So he is led by the lust of eyes and looks at another woman and not his own wife.  And his ears start to hear about her.  But his eyes and ears never have enough of seeing and hearing about her (Eccle. 1:8).  So Satan entices him with the lustful desires of sinful human nature and causes us to sin (2 Pet. 2:18).  Satan makes him to covet another woman.

The cause of affair is covetousness.  Covetousness never has enough (Isa. 56:11).  So covetousness makes the man not to be satisfied with his wife (Prov. 5:19) and makes him to covet his neighbor’s wife (Exod. 29:17).  Therefore, he shouldn’t let his heart turn to covetousness (Ps. 119:36).  The Bible says that covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5).  That’s why he must be on guard against all kinds of greed (Lk. 12:15).  He must consider the members of his earthly body as dead to greed (Col. 3:5).  He must put “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed” to death (v. 5).  It is because he has crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24).  I hope and pray that all the Christian men don’t covet their neighbor's wives (Exod. 20:17) but are always be satisfied their own wives' breasts (Prov. 5:19).