Faithfulness to Your Spouse Begins Before You Meet Them

Reading Plan: Proverbs 4:20-6:19

Note: I was under the weather yesterday and did not get this posted, so my plan is to catch up on this Saturday.

Proverbs 5:15-23,NRSV

Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for yourself alone
    and not for sharing with strangers.
Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
May her breasts satisfy you at all times;
    may you be intoxicated always by her love.
Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord,
    and he examines all their paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them,
    and they are caught in the coils of their sin.
They die for lack of discipline,
    and because of their great folly they are lost.

This section of Proverbs is believed to have been used for the moral education of boys,  However, there is nothing to prevent this same teaching to all.  Faithfulness in marriage is one of the larger themes in Proverbs, which is why I speak to it during this section. 

            As a Pastor, I have had many private conversations with both men and women who found out their spouse has not been faithful to them.  Obviously, these spouses who experience this kind of betrayal experience pain that hardly can be put into words.  But without exception, all these situations caused great pain for many others including the offending spouse.  Families are torn apart, children feel abandoned, and even the dynamics of the extended families is disrupted. 

            The teacher here is probably aware of the same realities of pain causes by infidelity in marriage and seeks to help children know even before their first romantic experience. Faithfulness is the goal in our most sacred relationships.  The teacher seeks to instill this in young people early so that even in their first relationships, they are guarding against acting unfaithfully because of a whim.  Most infidelity is not planned and premeditated.  It tends to happen in moments when one’s guard is down and people are overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment.  Wisdom is never to let that guard down and be self-aware about the unreliable emotions of one moment.  As we work our way through Proverbs, we will hear this more and more on other fronts as well.

Questions:  What conversations happened in your family of origin about the importance of faithfulness in relationships?  What conversations are you having about faithful relationships in your family now?

Prayer:  God, you model faithfulness to us. Teach us faithfulness and help us see how we can teach it in our communities and our families.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for families you know who are suffering because the breakup of a marriage. 

Song:  Jesus and You – Matthew West