Seventh Commandment

“You shall not commit adultery!” (Deuteronomy 5:18)

Years ago, a university student set out with great enthusiasm to take up a student job in the United States. She arrived successfully, and everything was going well at her workplace. In the meantime, she met an older man who began to seduce her. She did not return home alone—she was carrying a new life under her heart. The man kept giving her hope for a long time, but in the end, he never married her. The child has since grown up without his own father. Surely this is not an isolated case; many similar or even worse stories could be told. These are the consequences when we give in to temptation and violate the prohibition of the seventh commandment. There will never be good consequences if someone lives a sexual life before or outside of marriage, acting against God’s ordinance.

It takes only a moment to step into the trap of temptation, yet its consequences can radically change our entire life from one moment to the next. In the Garden of Eden, the first human couple had everything; they lived without worry, suffering, or tears. Yet it was easy for the tempter to lure Adam and Eve into sin. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6) The act of sin had its consequences. The tempter makes no exceptions; he tests everyone: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7b)

“What does God require in the seventh commandment? That we detest all unchastity from the heart, since God has condemned it, and that we live pure and disciplined lives, whether within holy marriage or outside of it.” (Heidelberg Catechism 108) Amen.

PRAYER: Almighty God, I thank You for Your commandments, which guide me like signposts. They show me the right direction so that I may not bring unnecessary troubles upon myself. Please grant me the strength to say no to temptation. Bless me with a pure heart and a pure life! Amen.

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