A Distaste for Disobedience

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.
–Psalm 119:67

Some years ago, I counseled a man who had been involved in an emotional affair with a coworker. He eventually cut off the relationship, repented, and asked for forgiveness. Even though his wife forgave him, their marriage wasn’t the same. He also was convinced that the failure of his business was a direct judgment from God for his sin.

I encouraged him to view the consequences of his sin from a different perspective. I asked him, “How likely are you to get involved with another woman?”

“Every time I see another woman, I want to run in the other direction,” he said. “I never want to go through that pain again.” Would he have felt that way if he hadn’t experienced these struggles? “No,” he said, “I’ve always been kind of a flirt and had trouble with my moral life.”

“So, in a way,” I concluded, “this experience has inoculated you against any future affairs.”

He said, “I never thought of it that way before, but I guess you’re right.” I suggested that he thank God for the whole experience–not for his sin but for allowing him to go through the experience without losing his family and for giving him the ability to turn away from his sin and learn from his mistake. “You can even thank Him for the failed business and your less-than-perfect marriage,” I added, “since those consequences have given you a distaste for any future affairs.” When we feel the consequences of our sin, it inoculates us against further disobedience.

In Psalm 119:67, David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” David had a problem with immorality. But after the fiasco with Bathsheba and Uriah, anytime David was tempted to act immorally, he felt the sting of the public humiliation he had experienced, of the child who had died because of that unholy union, and of the rebellious son God raised up as punishment against David. When David felt the sting all over again, he said, “I’m not going there again.” That’s why God sometimes allows us to experience consequences–not because He hates us but because He loves us and wants to keep us close to Him.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Why Forgiven People Must Still Sit in the Electric Chair,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.