The historian—Blanche W. Cook—says that’s when Eleanor’s life changed. She stopped eating, and what little she ate she vomited. The stomach acid destroyed her gums, loosened her teeth, and caused her front teeth to spread and protrude more than ever.
For the rest of her life, she wore in her deteriorated physical appearance the cost of her husband’s adultery. I find that one of the saddest stories I know.
Eugene Peterson wrote a book a generation ago called The Myth of the Greener Grass about the lies associated with adultery. The big lie, of course, is that there is no cost associated with it, that “I can have the wonderful life I enjoy at the present and still have this exciting little action on the side.”
Too late, the individual often discovers that his/her dalliance cost a price much bigger than they ever intended to pay.
Yes, there is life after this kind of self-imposed meltdown.
Yes, the Lord can still use the believer who, like King David, does something truly stupid and betrays everyone who trusts him.
But let us never forget that the price for our iniquity is born not by us alone, and not even by Christ alone through His death on Calvary.
When we betray our Lord and violate our marriage vows, we inflict pain on everyone who loves us in ways we could never measure.
Be faithful; be aware of the high cost of adultery. Do not listen to the whisperer of lies and the agent of seduction. He is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
