Husbands:  “Reasons To Maintain My Moral Purity”

Pastor Keith Hassell

1.         Grieving the Lord who redeemed me.

2.         Dragging God's name through the mud because of my identification as a Christian.

3.         One day having to look at Jesus, the Righteous Judge, in the face and give an acount for my actions.

4.         Following in the footsteps of those whose immorality forfeited or crippled their        witness and ministry.

5.         Inflicting untold hurt on my best friend, my wife.

6.         Losing my wife's respect and trust.

7.         Hurting my precious children.

8.         Destroying my example and credibility with my children, and nullifying both present and future efforts to teach them to obey God (Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?)

9.         If my blindness should continue or my wife be unable to forgive, possibly losing        my wife and children forever.

10.       Bringing upon myself great shame and embarrassment.

11.       Bringing shame and embarrassment upon my precious family.

12.       Causing shame and dissappointment for my brothers and sisters in Christ by putting them in the awkward position of loving me and while hating my sin.

13.       Losing self respect.

14.       Experiencing great shame which causes a loss of  confidence in my relationship with God.

15.       Creating a form of guilt which is very difficult to shake.  Even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?

16.             Forming memories and flashbacks that could plague future intimacy with my wife.

17.             Making a boundary easier to cross in the future.

18.             Wrecking years of building trust and fidelity with my wife and family which may never be restored.

19.             Wrecking possibly years of building trust and accomplishment in the ministry.

20.             Wasting years of opportunity to be used in ministry, possibly permanently.

21.             Forfeiting the effect of years of witnessing to other family members and reinforcing their distrust for Christians.  Perhaps contributing to the hardening of their heart and their rejection of Christ.

22.             Undermining the faithful example and hard work of other Christians in our church and community.

23.             Bringing the reproach of the community and beyond upon my local church that might take years to overcome.

24.             Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good.

25.             Possibly bringing great financial hardship upon myself and family as the result of divorce, child custody battles, and child support.

26.             Possibly losing my business due to financial hardships and changes in working relationships with my wife, friends, associates, and those they influence.

27.             Setting myself and my children up for hardships if a new marriage results for me or my wife.

28.             Heaping judgment and endless difficulty on the person with whom I committed adultery.

29.             Possibly bearing the consequences of sexually transmitted disease, possibly infecting my wife, and in the case of AIDS, even causing her to die.

30.             Possibly causing pregnancy, with personal and financial implications, including a lifelong reminder of my sin.

31.             Bringing upon my children a possible generational curse (Exodus 20:5).