Devotionals

Spiritual Adultery

by Jennifer Woodley 
12/28/23
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James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (ESV)

Spiritual adultery is disloyalty to Christ. When He stirs our heart and we, by His grace, give our lives to Him, that is exactly what we ought to do: give our entire selves to Him. Anything less is adultery. For we can not have our way by having both. We must either love the world or love God. When we confess that we set Him apart as LORD, then everything needs to belong to Him.

This is a hard teaching. As followers of Christ, we have no freedom to believe anything apart from what our Lord has given us to believe in the Scriptures. We have no part to determine where we belong apart from where God says we belong. And we have no choice to behave in any way other than how Jesus shows us to behave in His teachings. It doesn't matter what our opinion or preference is on a subject, as long as it is the thoughts and decision of God. Of course this doesn't stand for what we might eat for dinner or what colour car we drive, but for the weightier matters that we know to be good and right and true.

We are now His friends and as our friend and LORD He knows what is best. As a believer, we cannot know the Scriptures, turn our back on them by disobeying them and remain a friend of God. That behaviour makes us guilty of spiritual adultery and an enemy of God. God pursues us because in His love, He is jealous for us to be His. And only His.

Jennifer is an Australian freelance writer who enjoys encouraging others on their journey with Christ.