Part 7 of the 10 commandments, 7th commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery
Exodus 20:14 “thou shalt not commit adultery.”
I know a pastor down here that has been preaching this same verse for 20 years. He’s like a broken record. Yet, I don’t think I have ever heard him explain what adultery is specifically. Personally, from my experience, when a pastor preaches about the same thing continually there’s something ‘rotten in Denmark’.
Adultery is sexual infidelity to your spouse. It’s not approved of morally or Biblically. Yet both moral people and Biblical people commit adultery. It’s not just doing it with someone who’s not your spouse when you’re married. Remember Jesus’ talk about it?
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
So when you are looking for something to watch on your 159 channel TV watch out as you’re flipping through the channels! You might commit adultery. Hollywood intentionally put attractive people on the previews to help you to stop the scrolling. All you need is to look at something for a second and you could be breaking 1 of the 10 commandments.
Remember that the 10 commandments are made to show us the need for a Saviour. Jesus kept our 10 commandments for us because He knew we wouldn’t be able to. Jesus grew up in the barrio without ever lusting after a se√±orita. Never coveted for a second someone’s bling bling. Never told one white lie. All you need is a second to break 1 of the 10 commandments. Be careful little eyes what you see!
Job 31:8 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
There is no such thing as harmless flirting. The 10 commandments is also about the thoughts, feelings and attractions of the heart, not only your physical actions. If you lust to do it, according to Jesus, you’ve already done it. Lust isn’t just about sex. It’s about how and what you think. You can lust after a drop of liquor or a joint. Or in my case, ice cream. Temptation in itself is not a sin. Lust is taking the temptation to the next level. Lusting is sin, whatever it might be. You have 1/5 of a second to turn the channel of the tv in your mind. Very few Christians actually resist the temptation, which quickly turns to lust. They don’t even try to touch the knob or button on the remote control. They think they can’t help themselves, that it would be useless to try. It’s a lie from the pit of hell. The truth is they can.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Check your heart. A wise woman told me a few days ago to put a one hour timer on my phone to stop me in the middle of what I was doing so I can get a chance to check my heart. See where it’s at. Pay attention to your heart!! Remember, if you are a born again believer, JESUS LIVES INSIDE OF THERE! Take care of your thought life, your triggers, your stress.
Be aware of Jesus’ presence inside of you. It’s easy to forget. Practice His presence. Try to get alone for 15 minutes a day, preferably during the heat of battle, and bask in His presence. Reel it all in. The emotions. The tenseness. The anger. Kill the negative thoughts after you’ve taken them prisoner. Spiritual warfare doesn’t have to obey the Geneva Convention. Be ruthless with your own sin, and be gracious with the sins of others. Usually it’s the other way around.
‘Take your thoughts captive’ is probably the verse most ignored in the Bible and probably is the most important verse in Christian life. Why are divorce percentages the same among Christians as the rest of the world? Why so much sin in the church? Because we’re not taking thoughts captive, because we don’t believe it’s possible. Especially with mentally committing adultery. It’s harmless. It’s invisible. It’s deadly. No one just ‘falls into adultery’. It’s treacherously planned out. Why does God tell us to take our thoughts captive? Because we can! Not only adulterous thoughts, but all the other thoughts about breaking the other 9 commandments.
Who or what is taking your thoughts captive? The decision lies with you. You make yourself dwell on a temptation and turn it into lust. The devil didn’t make you do it. You intentionally gave him foothold. (I am just as guilty as anyone else). We don’t want to turn the channel and as a result the devil is in charge. Then he makes it an ugly selfish sin and blames it all on you. It’s his fault as much as it is yours. He’s an accuser. If you aren’t taking control of your thoughts, something or someone else will eventually. Either you are taking your thoughts captive or the enemy is. He wants to do that in order to wage war against your Christian walk and testimony. He can’t send you to hell but he can make sure that no one else will want to follow you to heaven. You can take your thoughts captive to stop committing adultery in your mind. Here’s how.
2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
Taking your thoughts captive simply means gaining control over what you think about yourself and life. What you put in your mind or in front of your eyes has an effect on what you think. Remember those scary movies you watched as a kid, then had nightmares? It didn’t take long to realize that the way to avoid the nightmares was to stop watching that kind of movie. God has provided a way to overcome unhealthy thoughts and behaviors, and gain the self-control you seek. It’s a matter of taking charge of your life – His way.
The wars we fight are not against flesh and blood but against invisible spiritual forces.
Here are 6 ways to take your thoughts captive:
1. Accept responsibility for your thoughts. You have the ability to exercise control over your thoughts. God warned Cain to focus his mind on the right things, but Cain chose to ignore Him.
2. Your mind and behavior must change. God tells us to change sinful behavior that does not honor Him. Instead of focusing on your outward behavior, work on disciplining your mind. Allow God to transform you by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2).
3. Think through your problems rather than just react to them. When you experience difficult challenges, you can react to them or respond.
4. Take your disabling thoughts captive through acknowledging them quickly. Paul urges us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (Rom. 12:21). Confront your disabling thoughts. Turn them over to God.
5. Choose to focus your thoughts on the right things. We are to think about those things that are “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable” (Phil. 4:8). Don’t look to a movie, TV show, or how-to formula to accomplish this for you. It takes desire, personal discipline and commitment.
6. It is possible. It is not easy to retrain your thoughts or to respond in new Christ-like ways, but if you want to you can. Take heart: as God empowers you to focus your mind on the right things, it will become easier.
It is possible to live a life aware of our thoughts and taking them captive! God gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us. Start following these steps today to gain power over your mind and thoughts.
Be aware! Pay attention in ‘Bible talk’ is Hearken! I didn’t yell HEARKEN at little Deannie Jr when he was crossing the street. I would yell, PAY ATTENTION! But it’s the same thing. Pay attention is what we do when there is something important going on that you really believe in.
God to me, and obeying His will, is all that is important to me. I believe all of the Bible. Therefore, I am going to Pay Attention to my thoughts, my eyes, my heart, my mouth and my actions to please God and to be a good testimony. One way is to try not to break any of the 10 Commandments.
Deuteronomy 30:10 “If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”