Forgive the betrayer Week 50, 2013

Can anyone ever argue in favour of any sin? Dare we suggest tolerance for the deepest of betrayals or be seen to make light of infidelity? Nay. But no wound is so deep that we allow the wounded die; no offence so grievous that we watch the offended in prison. To wound a spouse by adultery is unforgivable to many, yet Hosea’s wife was unfaithful and adulterous, and what did God say?  Then the LORD told me: "Go love your wife again, even though she is being loved by another and is committing adultery. Love her the same way the LORD loves the people of Israel, even though they look to other gods… Hos 3:1(ISV).

To the adulterer I have one word, “Repent in dust and ashes”. Adultery exacts payment far in excess of the pleasure it offers. And whoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away Pro 6:32(Webster). To the wounded: No spouse is worth a strained relationship with God. Even if we cannot prevent a spouse’s unfaithfulness, we must prevent it (no matter how recurrent) from harming our own relationship with God by bitterness, unforgiveness or hardness. Remember God is not partial and always judges by the same standards. What He said to Hosea is what He says to you now o man: love your adulterous wife. O woman love your adulterous husband! For God shows no partiality. Rom 2:11 (ESV).

You know the pain we cause God when we worship idols is akin to adultery. Yes all greed, covetousness, and worldliness is adultery. For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God Eph 5:5(ISV). Yet after His gross displeasure and chastisement God says “return”. Since God refuses to send us away permanently when we most certainly deserve worse, can we not seek to be imitators of God?

When the refusal to repent causes separation stick to1Cor 7:10-11(ISV):   To married people I give this command (not really I, but the Lord): A wife must not leave her husband.  But if she does leave him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Likewise, a husband must not abandon his wife. Seek reconciliation if estranged, or else remain unmarried. The marriage relationship is a mirror of our relationship with God, of Christ with His church. If we give room for irreconcilable differences with spouses then we say there are irreconcilable differences with us and God too.

If this sounds hard to you, remember it also did to the disciples. His disciples asked him, "If that is the relationship of a man with his wife, it's not worth getting married!" Mat 19:10(ISV). Since God plans no divorce for you, know how to pray for your spouse. Know how to approach your marriage. Grace2u.