The Easy Way Out

I remember the first time I got caught cheating on homework.  I was in the 5th grade, in homeroom in Mrs. Appling's class.  I didn't finish my math homework for Mrs. Larkins class the night before because it was fractions and I was totally confused, so, I copied a friend's homework so that I would still be able to turn it in. And I got busted.  BIG time. 

It was the very first time I was ever sent to the principle's office.  My mom was called to the school and I was faced to either lie or tell the truth, which to this day, I'm not sure what I did. All I remember is that I was mortified and scared.  I wasn't scared just because I was caught, but I was scared because I would have to tell my little secret.  That I had absolutely no clue how to do a fraction.  And then I would have to do something else even more mortifying.  I would have to ask for help!

Cheating was the easy way out.  It was my way of not asking for help, tackling my fears, and pushing forward without fixing what needed to be fixed.  We all do that in our lives, somehow or another. 

Something very fresh on mind (and more the point of the blog post) is cheating in marriage. Whether it be watching pornography, going to a strip club, being best friends with someone of the opposite sex that isn't your spouse, masturbation, or having a physical relationship with someone else, it's all cheating.  Heck, you could even include binge drinking, drugs, video games, or time spent on Internet. 

I've heard all too often "these things are normal." No, they aren't. If they are, they shouldn't be.  I am obviously coming from a female perspective here, so, let me just say that NO WOMAN IN HER RIGHT MIND IS OK WITH YOU LOOKING AT ANOTHER WOMAN NAKED.  PERIOD!!!  (and if she says she is, she's just trying to please you.)  It's against the grain.  Your woman wants to be your one and only.  She wants to be the one to fill you up with what you need.  If you are having to get it from somewhere, it tells her subconscious that she is not good enough.  Because, isn't that what you're telling your spouse when you look elsewhere?  That they aren't enough? 

When you cheat, you aren't just cheating yourself.  You are cheating everyone around you.  You are cheating your spouse, your family, you are even cheating the person you are cheating with.  Because let's face it, there is something wrong with you spiritually or else you wouldn't be cheating.  If you can't face the tough,  ugly truth with your spouse, how the heck are you going to face it with the one you are cheating with?  It will just continue to haunt you until you face it, head on. 

I guess this has turned into more of a rant than an inspiring blog post. I am tired of watching people take the easy way out.  I will never forget Brooke saying "if Matt ever cheated on me, I'd make him stay and face me."  Right on.  Because you see, that's the point.  Cheating is not admitting that you can't do a simple fraction.  It's hiding the fact that you're scared to ask for help.  It's taking matters into your own hands and, most of the time, you will be caught red-handed.  And the consequences in life are far worse than being sent to the principles office and having a parent teacher conference. 

Here is what the Bible says: 
"Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the world and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies."  Ephesians 5:22-28 

*FYI: I am NOT talking about my husband.  James is almost too perfect and because of him, I have high ideals for all men and all marriages.  He has shown me what a good, Christian man can be like.  He has made me his number one and chooses to refrain from the list of things I have listed above.  It's because of him, I have such high hopes for all of my friends and my family.