4. You forfeit your influence with others.
“I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly” (v. 14).
5. You miss out on the lasting fulfillment of a committed marriage.
“Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love” (vs. 15-19).
6. You have to face God someday.
“For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths” (v. 21).
7. Pursuing affairs leaves you vulnerable to sexual addiction and lifelong guilt.
“The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly” (vs. 22-23).
Worldly warning.
Although filmed more than 25 years ago, Fatal Attraction still airs regularly on television. The temptress in the film becomes enraged when the adulterer (played by Michael Douglas) terminates their brief relationship. The spurned woman relentlessly pursues him. Her neurotic obsession eventually results in horrible violence, total disclosure and family disgrace. Even the secular world warns about the potential disasters of adultery.
Underscoring its dangers, in the next chapter Solomon returns to the subject and warns that “the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished” (Proverbs 6:26-29).
A word to the wise should be sufficient: “A man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself” (v. 32).
We could add: The man who remains faithful is judicious and whoever does so saves himself a whole lot of grief. During the coming year, vow to be the kind of leader who embraces moral discipline—and, by doing so, avoids personal disaster.
