South Korean courts sentenced actress Ok So-ri to 8 months in jail for cheating on her husband. During court proceedings, So-ri fought to stay out of prison, claiming the 1953 law against adultery was an invasion of privacy. The courts upheld the law, but suspended her sentence for 2 years.
Even though most countries don’t recognize adultery as a criminal offense, God is offended by this sin (Exodus 20:14). Unfaithfulness carries a maximum sentence that none of us can escape.
This penalty includes public disgrace. Even if an affair never hits the front pages, believe me—word gets around. The Bible claims that cheaters will “be wounded and disgraced. [Their] shame will never be erased” (Proverbs 6:33). This shame not only permanently trashes a person’s reputation, but it scars children and extended families as well—not to mention the other individual involved in the affair.
The Bible warns, “Sexual immorality is a sin against your own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18), and “the [one] who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself” (Proverbs 6:32). Adultery can destroy us through disease, emotional entanglement with another person, and a messed-up marriage.
Once a relationship is polluted by unfaithfulness, the jealous spouse “will be furious and . . . will show no mercy when he [or she] takes revenge” (v.34). Divorce, neglect, reciprocal affairs, and even murder are all forms of revenge that stem from the business of betrayal.
God asks us to “remain faithful to one another in marriage” (Hebrews 13:4). As both our advocate and judge, He wants us to avoid the maximum sentence that adultery carries.
Source: http://www.ourdailyjourney.org/2010/03/28/maximum-sentence/
