It has been said that there is nothing new under the sun. This is also true about sin; specifically, there is nothing new in the way of sexual sin under the sun. The record of mankind sinning sexually has been recorded since Genesis 4.
The Bible has much to say about sexual sin and its consequences. It gives us specific details about people who committed sexual sin. In some cases the personal consequences they bore are detailed, and in other cases the effects their sexual sin had on individuals and nations is explained.
Because of social networking sites, people are now able to connect with friends around the globe. Like anything, these sites can be used for good and bad purposes. Social networking sites like Facebook provide easy access to old flames, school friends, and former lovers.
It should be no surprise that we see skyrocketing divorce statistics (Facebook is now mentioned in 33% of divorce proceedings) involving married people who find a long lost love and reconnect via a social networking site.
It is never wise for married people to “friend” people of the opposite sex. Those who have done this overwhelmingly regret it. Many of those who have fallen prey to a Facebook romance report that they never intended it to happen; they were just looking up an old friend.
Social networks provide shields of protection through privacy settings that deceive users into thinking it is safe to divulge information about their lives that is better kept private. Users believe that geographical distance will prevent them from actually making a physical connection with their “friend” and that reminiscing about days gone by is harmless. It seems harmless to flirt a little with an old boyfriend but it is not. If he was someone you were interested in before, what makes you think you won’t be interested again?
An on-line relationship is not multi-dimensional; it is limited to the written word and selected pictures of a person. It is idealistic in that the people on either end of the connection reveal only what they want to have seen about themselves. This makes it easy to develop a strong emotional attachment to the other person and to “fall in love” with him. As that emotional connection develops, the husband begins to be edited out as the “friend” becomes the new confidant. An emotional affair can be as devastating to a marriage as a physical affair.
When a wife develops an on line relationship she is developing a relationship no matter how dimensionally restricted it is. There is sharing of daily life and the emotions, thoughts, beliefs, desires and feelings that accompany it.
It is perhaps difficult to comprehend that Christians commit any form of adultery. People who attend church every Sunday are as susceptible to the lusts of the flesh as their non-Christian counterparts. We struggle to understand how this can happen, how a Christian who attends church, reads their Bible, and professes a love for God can fall into such deep sin, but it happens with shocking regularity. Guard your heart!