Adultery Begins in the Heart

Lenten Devotional Series Day 26. Today’s meditation is on Matthew 5:27-30.

It is hard to manage our hungers. We hunger for various things: success, recognition, admiration, respect, and love, among others. A Christ-centered appetite is good, but when our appetites start to control us they become idols which we serve in the place of our true Lord.

Jesus said, [27] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [28] But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

In this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that long before the physical act of adultery is ever committed, the seed of lust is planted in our hearts, turning us away from God and making its desire our master. This is lustful intent: a shift in the state of our hearts such that we stop serving our Lord and start serving the object of our desire. We put our appetites, our hungers, before our commitment to God, spouses, friends, and the church. We chase after things not our own or, conversely, seek to be the object of lust, seeking love, admiration, acceptance, and validation from a source other than that which God intended. The sad irony of it all is that it is actually our desire consuming us and not the other way around, though we are often completely unaware of it.  Adultery begins in the heart.

Jesus said, “[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. [30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

Jesus calls His followers to pay attention to the intentions of the heart and to seek its purification, even if by drastic measures. The metaphorical pruning Jesus proposes shows the severity of the situation and the absolute necessity of rooting out whatever leads to sin in our lives. The judgment is also clear – our very eternal lives are at stake. Managing our appetites, sexual or otherwise, begins with our hearts. It begins by relinquishing our hearts to Christ and acknowledging His Lordship over all that happens therein.

This Lent, let’s reign in our appetites and resubmit them to our Savior, repenting for the sins that have taken root in our hearts and asking the Lord to cleanse us from within.

Today in prayer, wait upon the Lord to reveal to you any appetites that may be superseding Him. Then ask Him to sweep your heart clean and fill it with a hunger for Him.

Collect of the Day. Almighty God, look upon the sincere desires of your humble servants, and stretch out the right hand of your majesty to be our defense against every enemy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.