Marriage Sex and Dating #5

Review - dating? - marriage? - how does Jesus define marriage?

Today: faithfulness.

disclaimer - this is not “beat up the men” day.

women can be unfaithful too.

Temptations for most women:

a woman’s primary desire: they want to be wanted. loved.

this is why the Bible tells husbands to what?

for most women, they don’t just jump straight into physical temptation. most of the time it starts as an emotional one.

they want to be wanted/loved - as a result they begin pondering “what would life be like if I had married this ‘better guy’ instead of the one I’ve got...”

this does culminate in physical temptation… that’s true. but it doesn’t start there.

Temptations for most men:

a man’s primary desire: They want to be respected.

and physical intimacy is a big sign of respect.

it is a major sign of submission - the woman receives.

now, men are more focused on beauty than women.

we see that throughout the Bible. “may her breasts satisfy you always.”

men, for the most part, aren’t great at creating beauty, but they are focused on it.

And you see how both of these dispositions land in the same spot?

so the warnings and tips to thrive we’re about to go through aren’t necessarily gender specific, although in some instaces they are...

be delivered from the forbidden woman Pro 2:16.

how? seek wisdom - and then find the fear of the Lord and knowledge of God Pro 2:1-5.

Prov 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Prov 4:26 “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”

Proverbs 5 ESV

My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

A strong temptation for women: the busybody.

1 Tim 5:12-14 “and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.”