Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Just don't go sleeping around. This commandment is one of the simplest to understand, because it's so easy for us to see what great harm adultery can cause.... families can be torn apart, hearts can be shattered, and trust can be demolished. It's important that people keep love above lust, and that they can respect their vows of marriage, spouse, and God.
But the Bible also states that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, then he has already committed adultery in his mind. Likewise, if a woman causes a man to look at her lustfully, then she is also at fault.
Though this may seem harsh, it makes sense. Men, obviously, will feel things for women. This is how they were made. However, men should not constantly be obsessed with lusting after females. The easiest way to avoid lust would be to not seek out porn or other sexual images that would make a person feel lust.
But it is not only the fault of men for feeling lust- often it is the fault of women for wearing revealing (or lack of any) clothes. While it is perfectly understandable (and fine :) to look good, looking good doesn't mean that a woman has to wear ridiculously deep shirts or short shorts.
In today's society, lust and love are synonymous. But God wants us to love. And by telling us that we should not commit adultery, He is expressing the importance of love over lust.
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3 comments:
As you well know, there isn't a single sentence in this post I could disagree with.
But I find this interesting -- I didn't know this was the definition of the word "adultery." I thought adultery meant sex outside of marriage, not necessarily pre-marriage sex or "sleeping around." I thought it meant an affair.
But if it means what you say it means, then it's great for me, because that is what we believe also.
It's also bad for the *overwhelming* majority of Christians that don't possess the self-control that you write of.
Find it odd that it isn't mentioned about if a woman looks at a man lustfully. I, er, would assume this is bad as well -- though certainly you girls are less prone to lust than us guys.
It's kind of annoying, the fact that most girls could care less about a dude in runner's shorts, but our minds are like hard-wired to glance there first.
Ah well, what's life anyway but a struggle against your inner fool? If you didn't have a darker side worth correcting, those human flaws, what value would any act of kindness or modesty have?
Yes, both pre-marital sex and "sleeping around" are against the beliefs of the Catholic Church. And though it is certainly true that not nearly enough people hold the self control I write of, there are many Christians who do- even to a further extent than what I have written. I remember listening to one of the speakers in confirmation camp. She and her fiance, engaged to be married later that year, hadn't even kissed yet!
O.o that is beast.
Although that is actually the norm for us Middle-Eastern or South Asian types. The only differences are that it's a cultural imperative as well as a religious ideal. Thus, oftentimes we're equally perverted, we just aren't allowed to show it.
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