Ten Commandments
7. Adultery

You shall not commit adultery. _{(Exodus 20:14)}

We live in a sexually enlightened age; sexual images are portrayed throughout all forms of media. Children are given sex education at ever younger ages, so that they can deal with the exposure that they will have in everyday life. Divorce rates increase year on year. Sexual crime is on the increase. Teenage pregnancies are on the increase. The cost of broken relationships is expensive both financially and emotionally.

Adultery is treated very lightly by society, it almost seems that many television programmes treat it as the norm. Unfortunately we rarely see the joy of a happy marriage portrayed in TV programmes.

The Bible view is for a man and woman to be united in marriage as one; it is intended as a serious lifelong commitment that requires both people to share, give and love each other. This marriage union is blessed by a special intimacy. The Bible recognises that marriage is not right for everyone and includes single people within God's family.

As a society we need to face up to the issues raised by the liberal view. The government is concerned about teenage pregnancies, but despite much investment the problem is not being resolved; perhaps it needs to be addressed in a different way.

With so many temptations and situations we need to develop a culture that supports the family; the extended family that provided support in the past is less strong in our current society. We therefore need to look to the wider community and the church to provide support.

Husbands and wives need to make time for each other; to discuss and resolve potential problems. When the sexual union is violated not only is the marriage relationship badly damaged, but it causes God much hurt.

Care For The Family (www.careforthefamily.org.uk) provides fantastic support for families - such organisations deserve our support.

The church needs to be like Jesus and show love for all of those who fall short of this commandment. It needs to promote a biblical model, made practical for the twenty-first century, for teaching the values of relationships.