Have you heard about the Sunday school class studying these commandments? The teacher asked the class if anyone knew what adultery was. One child put up his hand and guessed: “It’s the sin of pretending to be an adult when you’re still a little kid.”
That definition may cause us to smile, but when we look at it closely, we can see that the child’s answer touches on something significant. Adultery is about a devastating form of pretending.
The most common definition of adultery is sexual unfaithfulness in marriage. But that’s not really at the heart of adultery, because marriage is not first of all about sex. The heart of a marriage relationship is about sharing love, pledging faithfulness, giving trust to someone and then, in return, receiving those same gifts from your spouse. When people play around with that trust and yet act as if things are okay with their spouse and with God, they are pretending to honor promises that are being broken. Relationships are damaged—even destroyed.
Because we’re human, we know that in all our relationships damage happens. But God calls us to confess our sins to each other, take the damage to Jesus, and tap the grace by which we are forgiven and we forgive others. Pursuing this path with integrity leads to restoring our relationship with God.
PRAYER
Lord, we all have some connection to marriage, even if we’re not married. Help spouses pursue faithfulness in love; help us all to honor our covenants without pretense. Amen.
你有没有听过一个在儿童主日学课堂中教导这条诫命的笑话？老师问学生，有没有人知道奸淫（adultery）的意思，其中一个孩子举手猜测说：「Adultery就是小孩子假扮成年人（adult）的罪。」
这个定义或许令我们发笑，但我们若仔细想想，这孩子的答案指出一件重要的事，奸淫是一种极具破坏性的伪装。
奸淫最普遍的定义是对婚姻不忠，即在婚姻外发生性行为，但这并不是奸淫的主要问题，因为婚姻首要的不是性，婚姻的重心乃是彼此相爱、持守忠贞、信任对方，然后从配偶身上也得到同样的回报。人若背弃了这信任，但在配偶和神面前却伪装若无其事，他们其实是在伪装自己仍信守这已遭破坏了的承诺。彼此间的关系已受损——甚至破碎了。
我们都是人，我们都知道人与人的关系往往会破裂，然而神吩咐我们，应当彼此认罪，把破裂的关系带到耶稣那里，向祂支取恩典，借着恩典我们得赦免，也赦免别人。若真心诚意这样行，我们便能与神重新建立关系了。
祷告
主啊，我们每一个人，包括没有结婚的人，都和婚姻有关。求祢帮助夫妻追求忠贞相爱，又帮助我们所有人毫不虚伪地履行我们的盟约。阿们。