You must purge the evil from Israel.
-Deuteronomy 22:22b, NIV
Divorce and abandonment by a cheater impacts the whole community. This is not a private matter!
I was reading an article the other night where the parents of a cheater is struggling with what to do with the lover. They really loved their (now former) son-in-law. So, how their daughter betrayed him was a blow.
This illustrates how cheating blows up communities, not just marriages.
Parents have to wrestle with their own dreams and relationships in light of the cheating. Some simply support the cheater as the saying goes, “blood is thicker than water.” Others are ashamed of the cheater’s behavior.
Parents of the faithful spouse are hurt by the betrayals as well.
I know mine were. My father described the blow as worse than losing his own mother to death (and becoming an adult orphan).
Adultery is ugly.
Abandonment by cheaters is ugly.
We need to realize many people grieve and are deeply hurt when one cheater decides to blow up his or her marriage through choosing sin over righteousness.
