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.
-Matthew 5:27-28, NLT
Cheating emotionally does not give the unfaithful spouse permission to bash their partner with their pastor.
Emotional cheating is sin. You are giving intimacy belonging to your spouse to someone who is not your spouse. This is wrong and breaks the “forsaking all others” part of the traditional marriage vows.
Cheaters–including emotional cheaters–need to be held accountable for harming their spouses. They should NOT be enabled in harming them more by attacking them verbally.
No, your spouse’s failure to be a better communicator did not force you to cheat on them. You CHOSE to cheat!
The problem doesn’t reside with the faithful spouse. You have a sin problem with the cheater who decided sinning was acceptable. Fixing this does not start by looking outside of the cheater!
Repentance requires the cheater acknowledging their sin and its impact with a decision to choose otherwise going forward!
Christians, we must stop coddling emotional cheaters. It is still sin and needs to be repented of! Pointing at the faithful spouse as the reason for their cheating is the opposite of taking responsibility for their sin and repenting.
