The Sixth Commandment

You shall not commit adultery.

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and descent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

This is a commandment that in our day and age is becoming increasingly marginalized and forgotten. The clear command from God is that we refrain from any sexual conduct that is not honoring to God or our spouse. (If you are not married then consider God in Christ as your “spouse” even if you are a man.) This excludes a whole range of activities from blatant sexual affairs to “harmless” flirting with others. Homosexual behavior is not honoring to God or to other human beings. Fornication and pornography do not give respect to the other people involved, even if they are consenting partners.

The key here is that we are to love and honor our spouse over any human being. Obviously God is to be loved and honored over all. But our spouse comes next. We are not simply to tolerate and accommodate our spouse. We are to do everything that we can to show them respect and love. It means putting them first, living for them.

Married men do not have the luxury of thinking only of their own needs, be they sexual or otherwise. They must ask themselves if what they are doing, and even thinking, shows love for their wives. Single men are the same. They are to show uncanny respect for women, married or otherwise. Women are not objects to fulfill our desires but gifts from God to give us help in our times of need (Genesis 2). They deserve all the respect and honor that we can give, not the least that we can scrounge up.

Women also must respect men, whether they are married or not. By watching the average sitcom or beer commercial you would think that men are all giant idiots who cannot see beyond their own noses. But men will not rise above the expectations set for them. If women expect men to treat them with respect, to show courage and leadership, to think spiritually and act morally, then men will meet that challenge. They were born, created, to meet such a challenge.

As Americans we can fall into the trap of treating one another as the world does. Or we can rise to the challenge of showing the utmost respect for each human being. Let husband and wife love and honor each other. Let all men and women show respect and love for each other.

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