Jesus addressed all of life's important issues.  He addressed many of them in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7.  Here's what He said about sexual fidelity:  ²⁷ “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  Matthew 5:27-30 NLT

Jesus always took Moses' Law and moved it from the realm of external behavior to internal motivation.  For the people of Moses' time until Jesus' time, sexual fidelity meant not committing the physical act of adultery.  Jesus changed that.  He told us that if we even look at another person with lust, we have already committed adultery in our hearts.  Sexual fidelity for Jesus is a matter of the heart.  In our day, sex and sexuality are used to promote nearly every activity in life.  Advertisers use beautiful women (and beauty is defined by external characteristics) to appeal to the lusts of men and convince them to purchase everything from beer to furnaces.  Jesus reminded us that we can't separate the external world  and its behaviors from our internal motivations. 

As we saw yesterday, God's intention was for a man and woman to come together for life in marriage as the context for expressing sexuality.  When we separate sex from the loving commitment of marriage, when we use it to advertise products, or provide thrills, we degrade the very image of God within us, and we move ourselves and our society toward destruction.  That's a bold statement, but no culture has ever disintegrated because of strong marriages and a commitment to use the God-given gifts of sex and sexuality only within the context of marriage.  As followers of Jesus, we are called to a higher standard--and internal standard, where we live our lives out of the "abundance" of our hearts.  As we fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit and the teachings of God's word, we find ourselves treating the world around us with respect, and we reserve the expression of our sexual desires to our spouses.  That has been God's plan since the beginning, and when we live it out in our lives, the result is always blessing!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, thank You for establishing a plan for sexuality and for having Jesus remind us that all our actions are to come from hearts that are filled with Your life and love.  Fill us anew with Your Holy Spirit that our hearts may be motivated by Your truth and love, and that our expressions of the gifts of sex and sexuality will be within the bounds you have established--the marriage between a man and a woman, for as long as the couple lives.  This we pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.