A God-fearing child of God doesn’t seek temptation! Joseph was single and temptation came from an unexpected place, an unexpected source and at an unexpected time. The fear of God and respect for his boss overpowered the lure of enticing nakedness! Joseph fled, what a great lesson to not deliberately place yourself in situations that could invite such temptations.

Avoid people and settings that could lead to danger preying upon your weakness; and if anyone begins harassing you or pressures you to sin sexually, resist to the full extent available to you. Then tell someone who can hold you or perhaps the other person accountable. Do all you can to protect your purity.

Immorality does not start with sex. It starts with just lust, imaginations! Staying pure in singleness and faithful in marriage means keeping control over what you look at. Out of loyalty and fear of the Lord keep a tight reign over your eye-gates.

In Exodus 20:14, God instituted a higher view of women and sexual relationship above the prevailing culture that looked down on women, where men thought nothing of having sexual relations with any woman whether married or not. Sadly, this is the same for the present times! That skewed cultural position was upended by the Lord in John 8:10; Matthew 9:20-22 and Luke 8:43-48.

In Mark 10:2-9 the Lord emphasised the need for husband and wife to stay together. He made complete again physically what He did in fulfilling Genesis 1:27 and where unfaithfulness sneaked in through unconquered old habits or carelessness, there is room for forgiveness for the genuinely repentant! Divorce is not an option, except in life and death situations (of repeated emotional and physical abuse) where separation to preserve life and mental stability is allowed; but the consequences are clear, the separated woman remains single or returns to the husband if she would not become an adulteress and inherit hell! (1 Corinthians 7:10).

We have lived through the consequences of both ignorance and inaction on this matter. A sister I used to know lived to raise godly children who followed the Lord, carrying the banner of the gospel that their father fell from because of murderous unconquered wrath and rage. She received the wise counsel of separate living and not divorce! On the other hand, that gifted worshipper in a major assembly in the nation’s capital died, allegedly murdered by a known irate husband; she was victim of wrong counsel of staying when she should have separated. The difference was knowing God’s mind and following godly counsel when living together becomes a matter of life and death! Selah.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele