The Other Woman
Aug 28, 2022When we share our story, what gets the headlines is the other woman. The detail that people like to talk about is how I, as a pastor, could have an affair with my wife’s best friend. The other woman represents a huge mistake. The other woman symbolizes a gigantic fall from grace. How could I stray so far away from God and my wife into a relationship with the other woman?
What people notice is the result of sin and often miss the process of sin.
Sin has a way of messing with your mind. It wears you down. Often sin’s greatest strength is not that it causes you to take giant leaps away from God…its that it lures you into tiny, unnoticeable, justifiable steps. It doesn’t always come against you with blatant lies; it just distorts and twists the truth. It hides, it compromises, it shades, and it bends.
What we begin to believe is that choosing our own way will work out. It will be okay. We can get over it. People will heal. It’s not that big of a deal. We are too talented to fail. We are too smart to get caught. We are too gifted to allow compromise to catch up to us.
You may not be choosing the other woman today, but you are contemplating the little choices that lead that direction. Sin taunts you. It tempts you. It distorts truth.
It’s not an affair…it’s just text messages. A little Internet porn never hurt anyone. You deserve to have someone listen to you, and if your husband won’t you’re your old boyfriend on Facebook is the next best thing. Your wife doesn’t admire or respect you anymore, but your secretary does. Leaving your wife won’t damage your kids that much. Telling one lie doesn’t make you a liar. It’s not cheating; you’re just being flirtatious.
Philippians 4:8 says “ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”
