Reading: Exodus 20, 14
Do not commit adultery!
Reflection: Desire is deeply rooted in our being. The desire for intimacy, to be loved, accepted, and to belong. We are created as beings of desire. Desire is good, given by God, but it becomes dangerous when it gets out of control. The big problem arises when our desires become demands! Legitimate desires quickly turn into lust.
Lust is the complete opposite of true love. Lust turns people into objects. Lust sees another person as an object that will fulfill its demands. Lust and adultery go hand in hand as they justify their idea, claiming that it is fulfilling the basic human need for love and intimacy. The one who succumbs to lust has fallen into a trap. They have lost themselves and their freedom. They thought they would be the master, but they became a servant. They thought they would stay in control, but now they are under control. Nothing is the same anymore.
Paul knew what he was talking about when he said: Do you not know that anyone who is united* with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 1 Corinthians 6, 16
Prayer: Let us meditate today on the words from the Book of Proverbs, as we pray to the Lord that lust does not deceive us with cunning justifications for sin that whisper in our ears.
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 intoxicated with her love.
Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.
Proverbs 5:15-23
*The word “united” means to glue, to join, to tie with an unbreakable bond.
Translated from the Bosnian language by ChatGPT Feb 13 Version