DON’T LET THE DEVIL DECEIVE YOU INTO DEFILING YOUR MARRIAGE BED
?Hebrews 13:4 NIV
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”?
?Hebrews 13:4 KJV
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”?
Defilement of the marriage bed begins long before the sexual act of adultery.
The devil will deceive you into defilement which brings destruction and death to your marriage, because that is his mandate, if you do not test the spirit and the heart behind everything you choose to touch, smell, taste, see or hear, even if it’s impure practices just between you and your spouse and doesn’t involve a third party and may seem “innocent and good”.
John 10:10 NIV
?“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”?
He deception often begins with what seems innocent and good, then he convinces you to doubt God’s Word and that God wants His best for you, backed up with lies or half-truths until you disobey God’s instructions, he exposes your “nakedness” or sin and the destructive consequences follow.
We see his deceptive pattern in the deception of Eve, which he still uses on us, in Genesis 3:1-7 NIV
?”[1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ” [2] The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, [3] but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” [4] “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. [5] “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [6] When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
[7] Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”?
Firstly the serpent brought doubt about God’s Word to Eve and that He did not want her to have good things (verses 1-3). He backed his seeds of doubt up with half-truths or lies (verses 4-5).
Eve did something very innocent and natural, she ate fruit which was good and even gave Adam some.(verse 6) . She was however disobeying a direct instruction from God not to eat that particular fruit (verse 3). He then exposed them (verse 7) and we know God’s judgement (the consequences) followed.
If you have stepped over the line through behavior, that should be reserved for your spouse, around persons who is not your spouse, through flirting, lust, infidelity, unhealthy emotional or spiritual connections with someone other than your spouse, through what you allow yourself to look at, watch or read, touch, taste, listen to or smell, repent and do what it takes to stop that sinful behavior before it becomes the full blown act of adultery which is much harder to recover from. Ask God and your spouse for forgiveness, bring the restoration they desire and be reconciled once again in the purity of your intimacy because He can bring back the joy and life in abundance in your marriage.
Then get knowledge on what can defile your marriage bed, keep your distance from it, your spouse deserves your undivided loyalty.