Years ago, I remember film sessions after practice or a game playing football. These sessions could be downright brutal. They were exercises in accepting responsibility.
The coach would play the tape watching for each misstep or wrong assignment. He would then slow down the film and hit repeat when he caught you doing something you were not supposed to do.
When it came to football games, the coaches would grade your play the day after the game. This included looking for “critical errors”–i.e. errors that were play killers.
Cheating is like committing a “critical error.”
It doesn’t matter if ten guys were doing the right thing, one player committing a “critical error” would result in the play failing. Similarly, it does not matter what else is going on in the marriage, cheating is a “critical error” that blows up the marriage.
Sadly, cheaters try to point to others instead of facing this harsh truth about their cheating and its impact on the marriage.
This is why we need to focus on the cheating so much with them if they are seeking to stay in the relationship. They need to experience accountability where they cannot run from the painful and obvious truth that their sins kills the marriage.
