“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

-Joshua 24:15, NIV

I do not buy the lie that cheating “just happened.”

Choices, poor choices, were made that led to the moment of physical infidelity. This was not a mere accident. The cheater made deliberate choices to invite the sin into their lives.

People who are committed to keeping their marriage vows understand that they need to forgo some choices. That is what it means to “forsake all others.”

Forsaking takes will power.

When an attractive coworker is interested in us, partners with character recognize the danger of spending alone time with that individual. We make choices to limit interactions to the professional level. This is what it means to walk out our vowed commitment to “forsake all others” on a practical level.

The only thing that cheaters forsake is their solemn marriage vows in these situations.

They choose to serve the god of their egos. They deny both God and their commitment to their spouse by indulging in choices that open the door wide to the affair.

It is NOT a mistake. The affair is the logical conclusion of a series of poor choices resulting from a person discarding their vow to “forsake all others.”

Sadly, too many pastors will not call a cheater on such idolatry and willful sin. But that does not change the reality it is such.