unisouthwest

 

There are very few things if any that entangles in life that is considered good. Life is a journey, long for some; yet very short for so many. Yet there are also people who coast through life due to being utterly satisfied with themselves, or is it due to apathy, I do not know, but truth is I am often afraid to know the real reason behind ‘coasting’ when it is obvious that many things are happening around us and we could be doing much more than mere fold our hands and ‘coast’.

The Bible was clear on being active and leading a meaningful life. There are numerous passages in the Bible that clearly show the way to live life, and there are way too many to list in this short post. The question that continues to bug my mind is this: How do people not know that their actions or inactions impact others?

I will look at the sin that is described as the one that is done against one’s own temple. This is a topic that will ruffle feathers, and might cause significant backlash; and that is perfectly okay by me. I will be the first to admit that my thoughts are not always the purest, because just like most people, I see things that cause me to have split second thoughts of evil. Like a time when I had an unsettling sense in my spirit as a woman took a little boy of about 7 or 8 into a store bathroom, and about ten minutes into their entrance, I began to hear moaning. I tried to get the attention of a store employee, but was discouraged from doing so by someone, for fear of being hounded by the press should it turn out that the innocent child was being molested. Till this day, that scene still haunts me.

The evil thought that I still clearly remember is if my gut suspicion was true, I would grab the lady’s hair and smash her skull on the toilet tank! I remember asking God to take that thought away from my head, yet every now and again, I find myself picking up the thought over and over again. I prayed silently on that day that whatever was going on in that toilet stall, that. the little boy be protected by the God who sees everything!

For the sake of this post, I will limit my not so pure thoughts to the example above, but I have had many other horrible thoughts as well, as is the plight of my human condition.

The sin of perversion and the acting out of the same is a sickening feeling that naturally comes over one, and if it does that to the human emotions, how much more will it break the heart of God.

We have all heard it, and most know that sex was created for the enjoyment and intense fellowship between two adults a male and a female who are united in marriage. I am grown, and know for a fact that it is the most beautiful thing that God created and should not be used as a weapon, to hurt, or be shared frivolously with whomever without remorse.

One of my favorite things to do when I travel to Europe is ride the train because I love to watch the countryside as the train travels along. It also allows me the opportunity to watch how people behave in public in Europe. Not that I don’t observe people’s behavior in America, or Africa or the Caribbean or elsewhere around the world, but I particularly have a keen interest in visiting various countries in Europe. For one, many cities in Europe have old structures that I love because it gives me an opportunity to think of how people must have sacrificed to build structures that are older than my grand father, yet God gave us awesome opportunities to enjoy their hard work and immense sacrifice years after they are gone!

One bizarre occurrence of human behavior took place during my recent trip to Spain on a ride from Barcelona to Salou. A few young people boarded the train along the way, and a sudden sense of unruliness immediately took over and I began to feel unease. Suddenly about 20 minutes before we were to get to our destination, two of the young group walked to the door, and I was zoomed in to their non-verbal cues. The pretty looking young girl was quite aggressive with the non-verbal gestures going on between these two and she motioned for her partner, the boy to go into the toilet and she immediately followed him inside. I had just gone to ease myself in the same toilet about 10 minutes prior to them coming in, and it was the smallest space I have been to do my business next to an airplane lavatory. These two remained in the toilet for the next 15 minutes, and did not care if anyone was in queue to use the toilet. As our stop was announced, out come the two looking quite disheveled, and a sick feeling came over me, and my guts sank!

These two and their group disembarked the train with us, and the most irritating touch of a young little girl happened before my eyes, as the young man began to touch the little girl in areas where no one should be allowed to for a young lady such as her, much less in public. My motherly instinct immediately went into gear, as I was tempted to saying something, but my husband nudged me to leave them alone! I increased my pace and walked past them and wept when I got to my hotel room, for the violation of two young lives, especially the young girl, and the infringement on my right my to choose if I wanted to witness that horror; as well as for the lives of the other 8 or so young people in that crew!

It brought into perspective the danger of living a life of freedom to do and undo as one pleases, and the vulnerability of all of us in life to be violated without remorse by the evil desires of the cold-hearted.

As you can see, I have given two scenarios involving young children, one of them involved an adult whom could have been a mother or guardian of the child.

My only slight consolation after reminiscing these two events over and over is that the people that I have described do not know Christ, or could they, or at least ever heard of His existence and what He did for them two thousand years ago. I also know that Scripture says by their fruits we shall know them. Certainly the fruit of the young lady and her dirty young man was quite rotten to say the least by their public display of sexual aggression.

Bringing this down to marriages, I am wondering how many married people actually violate their matrimonial vows. I came to another sickening revelation recently that extra marital affairs could be considered the norm rather than the exception among many Nigerian women! The people that I spoke to actually laughed at me when I expressed shock and disbelief. One lady asked me “why are you surprised, weren’t you raised in Nigeria?” oh it cut through my guts and I felt like puking. Because all along I felt like such a behavior would only be done in utter secrecy and very limited to a few, and that the case that I got very close to, which was very well hidden for about two decades of lies and deceit would be the exception. Alas, the revelation I got from ladies who responded in disbelief of my naivety was intimidating to say the least! . The web of lies that is created by a married woman having affairs with other married men or with single men must be so badly woven that it will have to take a black widow to unweave, yet we know that spiders never unweave their webs!

So what does the Bible say about the adulterous woman? Many things, including the famous story of the woman at the well; which many are so quick to quote when you hold then accountable or when you bring up the issue of sexual sin. Even non-Christians know this passage and will readily in sarcasm dare you to “throw the first stone.” Well, if Jesus said “He who has no sin throw the first stone…” who then am I a sinner myself to throw stones at anyone. This is such a misconstrued teachable moments from The Savior instructing us to live holy and pure. I also am of the belief that many take grace for license to continue to be wicked, so we should know better when people immediately puts you on the offensive by the “cast the first stone” gibberish, we must stop them at their track with what the Bible says about sin. That does not make you a judge, but a child that knows the heart of her father; and can discern evil from good. How do you do this, by “studying to show thyself approved, so you may rightfully divide the word of truth”! (2 Timothy 2:15)

Addressing this all important “throwing the first stone” issue, scriptures says “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7) for a better understanding of this passage, a contextual study will be appropriate and I will do my best to delve more into it in future posts.

Until then, the following is import to bear in mind:

• The adulterers have already been judged by their own actions.
• The sinner has already been condemned by their act, yet Jesus knowing the condemnation that is upon us, came and gave His life that while we were yet sinners, He died for us that we may have eternal life.

So many of us Christians just go on taking that paid debt of Christ’s death for granted, and keep on sinning!

A particular lady whom I know that perpetrated such adulterous deceit for many years always justified her action with the most bizarre of explanations. She said:

“The man I kept my affairs with was my favorite sexual partner, and he was supposed to be my husband, but because he refused to marry me, although I married someone else, I will continue to derive my sexual pleasures from him, my “dream” partner; because he gives me the best sexual and emotional pleasure…! How sickening!

How do I know that the adulterer has already been judged? Well let’s take a look at a chapter that was solely dedicated to addressing this hideous plague that is ravaging and destroying families. It is important to note that when I refer to families, besides the emotional turmoil that the non-cheating partners go through, once the cat is out the bag, the most affected are the children in both families.

Proverbs 6:20-35 details the DANGER posed by adultery. The entire passage needs in-depth study for better understanding; however, men are strongly advised in this passage. The adulteress is described as a one who preys upon a foolish man’s precious life! (Prov. 6:26)

In life, both men and women impact each other and the most intimate experience is sexual encounter because that is when the most impact is done not just to one’s spiritual temple, but behavioral changes occur which ultimately have effects on our immediate life and family outlook.

So who and how are you impacting around you when it comes to the most sacred encounter that was given to humans by a loving father who created us for love and fellowship?

“Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned?” (Prov. 6:27)

Until next post sharpen one another!

Bridget