“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”
-Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT
Cheater sympathizers often miss the real choices cheaters make.
They fail to acknowledge the cheater chose to break their promises by having sex with someone who is not their spouse. This was not a choice they were “forced” to do.
In the rush to dress up the sinful choices the cheater made and minimize the awfulness of their sin, these sympathizers fail to acknowledge the truth:
-Having an emotionally distant partner does not force a spouse to commit adultery.
-Having a nagging partner does not force a spouse to choose to commit adultery.
-Having an overweight partner does not force a spouse to commit adultery.
Having a low-earning partner does not force a spouse to commit adultery.
It is ALWAYS a choice to respond to those circumstances by choosing adultery. Circumstance do not cause adultery.
God expects His people to choose better. It makes no sense to forbid adultery if God did not expect such.
Instead of looking at marriage circumstances, I encourage pastors and other Christians to see the obvious:
The cheater chose adultery over godliness. That is what happened and future repeat performances can only be fixed by fixing the cheater’s chooser!
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*A version of this post ran previously.