Dale (not his real name) was in my office, and through sobs of despair and shame, he said, “I don’t know what happened or why, but I cheated on my wife, and now she’s found out and is leaving me.”

I wish I could tell you confessions like that are rare. They’re not.

The question I want you to consider with me is this: Is illicit sex worth it?

In particular, are adultery and pornography worth the cost?

On a regular basis, I teach that sex is a gift from God, and it is. Regardless of the current level of satisfaction in your marriage, sex is a blessing from the Creator. He wants you to experience loving, creative, and exciting sex with your spouse. That’s God’s plan, and after over forty years of marriage, I can tell you from firsthand experience—it’s awesome when His plan comes together.

Few want to hear this, and even fewer believe it nowadays, but illicit sex outside of your marriage, including adultery and pornography, are costly. Tragically, we humans tend to focus on the “fringe benefits” of immorality rather than the high cost of our infidelities.

According to researchers:

• 41% of marriages include either physical or emotional infidelity by one or both spouses.
• 22% of married men and 14% of married women have strayed at least once during their married lives.
• 74% of men and 68% of women say they would have an affair if they knew they would never be caught.
• Over 30,000 people are viewing porn every second of every day.

Apparently, unfaithfulness is a relatively common issue, and immorality is far too widespread.

I’ve written about this topic before (find the article here at Charisma News), but let’s take a deeper look.

Why do so many fail?

There are many reasons, but here are some:

• Sexual boredom (we think the grass is greener elsewhere, and that sex outside of our marriage will be better).
• Unmet sexual and emotional needs in our current relationship.
• The love of the chase.
• The thrill of conquest.
• Insecurities about our physical and sexual desirability.
• The pleasure of sin (though momentary and fleeting).
• Addiction to a feeling rather than commitment to a covenant.
• Fantasies that we believe are better than our reality.

There may be additional reasons why some spouses wander, but perhaps the biggest reason is that we haven’t considered the high cost of our forbidden sexual exploits.

The costs of an affair that we forget or choose to ignore:

• Damaged or lost relationships with your friends, children, and extended family.
• Severe financial impact due to divorce.
• Loss of your God-given mission and purpose in life.
• Emotional damage and lost joy.
• Loss of respect for yourself and by others.
• Potential physical illnesses (STDs are still rampant).

A strong motivator toward moral purity is weighing the costs of moral failure. Ask anyone who’s been down that disastrous road and they will tell you, “It’s not worth it.”

In fact, many years ago, I had one guy tell me quite bluntly, “When it’s all said and done, an orgasm is just an orgasm, and my moral failure cost me just about everything I truly value.”

Wow.

We all know that drinking poison will kill us; we are aware of the cost of that irrational act. However, we foolishly toy with adultery or pornography thinking no harm will come, but it does.

Someone recently asked me, “Do you ever struggle with temptation?”

Without hesitation, I said, “I’m a male and I’m breathing. Of course, I’m tempted. But temptation isn’t the problem. Jesus was tempted in every way I am. The sin occurs if and when I stop resisting and give in.”

So what can we do?

As a husband or a wife, what steps can you take to help you delight in the spouse of your youth and to help you stay true?

• Flee sexual immorality. Don’t linger or dawdle. Run from temptation! Stop reading the trashy romance novels. Turn off the TV programs that stir unholy desires.
• Have the long view. What will your failure or unfaithfulness mean to you and your family in the years and decades to come?
• Install accountability software and filters on your computer and smartphone.
• Count the cost and imagine the worst not the best if you fail. (This should be sobering.)
• Ask godly friends to support you in the battle and to hold you accountable.
• Establish and maintain wise and holy boundaries. (For example, never be completely alone with an unrelated member of the opposite sex. It’s impossible to commit adultery if you practice this one relationship rule.)
• Walk in the light and the power of the Spirit.

In hundreds (and maybe thousands) of conversations over my many years of life, it’s become clear to me that we all wrestle with the flesh. Frankly, every one of us is just one bad decision away from disaster. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re beyond the potential for a moral fiasco.

Not now. Not in this corrupt world. Not on this side of eternity.

But the good news is God is faithful, and He will always make a way of escape for you.

You just have to take the God-given off ramp.

“No temptation has overtaken you

except what is common to mankind.

And God is faithful;

he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted,

he will also provide a way out

so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

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