As a dog returns to its vomit,
so fools repeat their folly.-Proverbs 26:11, NIV
Committing adultery is foolish, foolish behavior.
The Bible names it as such in Proverbs 5. And the general observation from chapter twenty-six is that fools repeat such folly. Maybe this does not happen always, but it usually does as this Scripture teaches.
Cheaters just can’t resist their own “nummy vomit.”
This “street-smart” wisdom from Proverbs is often lost on pastors or other Christian leaders trying to “help” faithful spouses. The idea that someone who foolishly cheated is more likely than not to repeat such foolishness seems lost on far too many of this crowd. In other words, they dismiss this wisdom, which is foolish in itself.
But all of that makes sense if one’s goal is always to “save” marriages without respect to the condition of said marriage or cost to the adultery victims.
This Scripture warns us to assume someone who acts like a fool with continue to act like a fool. So, it ought to be an default assumption for a Christian that cheaters will continue to cheat until clear evidence–i.e. hard evidence of clear repentance–proves otherwise. That is one lesson we can learn from this Proverb.
And it is foolish to ignore such wisdom.
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*A version of this post ran previously.
