#176 The Value

14 “You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14

The law that men regard as off limits to God. I remember a pastor telling me of a sermon that he gave about this very thing, and how after the service, one of the matriarchs of the church approached him, and she asked him, "please keep the church stuff in the church, but leave the family stuff alone. You are making some of the other members uncomfortable." and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3:15-17. It would appear that the pastor was doing his job, but the congregation thought it was for him to make them feel comfortable, and not to convict the soul. Admittedly, his story fell on deaf ears with me too, and it would be some time before I came to see it in the spirit of which God brings it, with a change of heart. If you asked me at any time in my life, "do you respect your mother, your wife, your daughters?" Of course, I would say. Yet, they are women, and how is it that I can say that I respect women in general, creatures for which God has secured value according to His image, if I have assigned to some this value only, and to others a value in accordance to their sensuality. It is a paradox that cannot ever reconcile itself, for this other man's daughter I lust after, yet I am offended that anyone would look upon my wife or children in this manner. "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.29"If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.…Matthew 5:27-29

Who can ever live up to such a standard? And so I left the thought of it, reasoning first that I could call it an act of love. I still claimed that I respected women, after all, look at the presidents, whom more women voted for. They ran campaigns geared towards women's rights, they formed words with their mouths that said, "I respect women." When their actions showed how they truly valued women, we held the women in contempt. This is the law that transcends deep into the heart, God does not leave it to rest upon our words or outward appearance. Some shout their sexuality from the roof tops, because it is their golden calf, and others prefer the privacy of their thought life. We have reduced the value of the being to the point of sex slavery, prostitution, pornography and abortion. I am a part of that. I looked at things I shouldn't see. I said things I did not mean. When I was a young man, a girl who I had been seeing came to tell me that she was pregnant. I was raised in the church, but the very first thing to enter my mind was something I had never tried to justify before, an abortion. I had elevated my adultery above life, and when it turned out to be a false alarm, I was relieved. I was momentarily shaken, but not eternally stirred. My heart was hard, and I would have my sin, but please, not the repercussions. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”2Samuel 11:14&15. Not only did David devalue Bathsheba, for the sake of his lust, but he fully demonstrated the depravity associated with what we now "celebrate." He did not wish to confess his sin, but would rather cover it with another life. Men say they have a code. We speak of things with other men that we do not want our wives and children to hear, but if we devalue women in our talk and laughter, then we hold no honor or value for each other, for aren't women the other half of men. Did we not all come out of the belly of a woman? I respected no one, not even myself. 

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin[a] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price.So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 

There is much debate, even in the church these days, about what the Scriptures have said in very plain language, and colorfully demonstrated in the stories of our forefathers. The commandments of God are notably tied together, and the moral law, if broken against any other person, becomes that which is against God Himself. The Scripture has also stated to believers that there is no temptation that is not common to all men, and that with such, God will provide a way of escape. It also states that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us, but not only that, for he is also faithful in our sanctification, in that he will cleanse us. I use to despise this law, it was laughable to me, but one day I asked God to change my heart, and He did.