There is nothing around us today that promotes or
inspires the idea of faithfulness. On the contrary, we are bombarded with
everything that feeds our egos, stirs insatiability, ignites desire and tells
us enough is never enough, framing the male mind with idea that lust,
promiscuity and taking what doesn't belong to him is somehow acceptable and "normal".
All this propaganda drives a "ME-centric" mentality as it cunningly pours honey
on the slightest bit of conviction, slowly hardening us to the point we
don't feel anything at all. We just do.
If it's not in deed it’s in thought, and one is as
bad as the other. All action begins with thought, so those secrets we keep inside more often than not are a churning pool of temptation we continually go
and dip our toes into. Women and men are alike in this but I am addressing the
masculine for now. The Bible says that “as a man thinks, so is he” so what we
are thinking in our minds will eventually finds its way out.
Whether it's commercials on television or
billboards along the side of the road, or news stories that capture our
attention and peak our interest to look further, we are perpetually
enticed and deceived. You may call it coincidence but I call it STRATEGY. I'll go one
step further; it's an all out war.
Men around the world, but especially in America,
are seduced and lured into unfaithfulness. This doesn’t take away from personal
responsibility though perhaps the deeds aren't necessarily matching the
thoughts all the time, the temptations are like that wound that just won't seem
to heal no matter what you put on it or that small gnat you can’t get out of
your car. They continually bang at the door of our heart.
Faithfulness is not just a word. It's not just a
definition you search for in the dictionary, faithfulness is an action based in
thought. It is always preceded by an honesty-based personal accounting that
examines all the ramifications possible which are then taken into consideration
as you look into the eyes of those a single act of unfaithfulness will
dramatically affect.
First, I believe we are unfaithful to ourselves
because if our conscience is working at all we know what we are about to do
goes against an internal governor that knows the difference between right and
wrong. Second and most importantly, it goes against a moral code written into
the universe by God which all things are accountable to which says by doing
such a thing we are committing an act of rebellion against Him for which we
will reap the consequences. No matter how you slice it, a violation is a
violation. Just because you don't get caught speeding doesn't mean you aren't
guilty of speeding. God knows and sees all, including our
thoughts.
I am going to be bold with this question and
statement: I wonder what the actual statistics are in regards to the amount of
marriages and deep personal relationships that have been utterly destroyed by
things like Facebook? I personally know a few. You know, those forgotten friends
and acquaintances or old flames that have come out of the woodwork only to
wreak havoc in people's lives and marriages? How easy it is to carry on an
emotional affair with someone when things just aren't going well at home, right?
And what about sites like Tinder or others whose sole intention is making
unfaithfulness EASY? Again, I'm not leaving women out of this but my focus is
on the man who knowing better has a responsibility to act according to what he
knows.
Faithfulness is not just for the man or woman who
are married but for all the single people who are enticed by someone who is either
married and/or committed. There is a word I used to say to my sons when they
were young, that word is NO! I heard the story not long ago of a young
bride-to-be at her wedding who stood before the pastor with her fiancé by her
side and all those who had come to witness her $100,000 wedding... "I want
to thank everyone for coming today" she said. "I especially want to thank
my fiancé for sleeping with my best friend and maid of honor last night!" Saved
by the bell, right! Thank God she found out the truth before she made the
horrible mistake of marrying a man who could not even make it to the alter
faithful.
Taking the words of Abraham Lincoln and mixing them
with my own: "You can fool some of the people [and yourself] some of the
time, but you can never fool the one who has been there and done that...
EVER!" So you could never tell me you go into unfaithfulness without knowing. You will never
convince me unfaithfulness is some naive act. You can never make me believe
that our circumstances, which have everything to do with us concerning our
personal relationships being out of whack, don't open the door to feeling like we deserve something better and that we should just make that happen. Or
perhaps we want to pay someone back for hurting us deeply with the old "I'll
show you" trick. I'm telling you, as a formerly unfaithful man, the
consequences and ramifications as well as the leftovers that come as a result
of our unfaithfulness will NEVER EVER leave you. But it won't just be you they
won't leave; they will become permanent reminders in the hearts and minds of those who were directly in the
path of such a devastating storm. Children especially reap the fruits of
unfaithfulness. And if that's not bad enough, more often than not those children
go onto, as adults, doing the very same things we have done. What we model and because of the pain of their own hurts and wounds, they emulate. Foolishness and folly: the
gifts that keep on giving. Unfaithfulness is a wicked seed that gets
passed on generation to generation.
Think about this for a moment. What businessman or woman wants an employee who is unable
to personally control him or herself and undervalues their most precious possession, family, working for them? Not everyone cares, but principles are
principles. If a person is willing to do that to the ones they supposedly love then the potential is very high that they cannot be trustworthy as an employee. Some who read may argue, but what's in a man comes out eventually. I’m
just saying.
There is a verse in Proverbs that says, "There is a way that seems
right to a man, but it ends in death." Listen, let's be clear... death isn't always
physical, it comes in many forms, but it's always death no matter what.
It's easy to believe when we get away with things and there is no consequence because we were not found out that we got off scott-free. It's easy when we believe the
only one we're accountable to is ourselves. But if you actually imagine you are getting away with
it, whether it's the physical act or the thoughts, or lets say, you are looking at things
that you know inside aren't right and will only lead to more destructive things, think
again.
Let me pass on some deep words of wisdom that are as true today as they were when they were written. Not
my words but those of a man who by experience had been there and done that, and as a result, fires a warning shot over the bow of every soul that will ever live...
"Why, my son, be captivated by a seducing woman [or anything that takes you captive in your mind - my words]? Why
embrace a foreigner’s [someone who doesn’t belong to you] bosom? For a
man’s ways are before the eyes of God, He observes all his paths. The
iniquities of a wicked man will ensnare him. The cords of his sin will hold him
down. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great
folly." Proverbs 5:20-23 TLV
Think of it like this… faithfulness is POWER. It
takes courage and wisdom, determination and keen discernment to turn the other
way… to say NO! When we sow seeds of faithfulness it will reap a harvest of life.
Generation after generation will follow in the footsteps you now choose to walk in.
What path will you take? Not just now, but every minute of every single day?
Don't rob yourself or those you love or hope to
love of a peaceful future. A moment
now that starts in your mind out of whatever it is that is driving it is not
worth the destruction it will reap as well as the undercurrent of guilt and shame it will remind you with forever. Take this as a warning from one who truly knows.
Jesus said if you are faithful in the little things
[which are actually the big things], then you will be able to be trusted to be
faithful with things far beyond imagination.
Learn faithfulness and then… be faithful.
Steven
Bliss
© 4/11/18
© 4/11/18
