Matthew 5:27-28 … on lust & LOVE (11/30/13)
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit*” ~ Matthew 1:18
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ And yet I say to you that whoever even looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:27-28)
Essentially, Jesus was right … Even though our physical yearnings are indeed “normal”, and even though we will indeed therefore regularly slip into moments of bodily desire, extra-marital flirting &/or fantasizing about someone other than our current partner, we are NOT destined to do so.
You see, we are NOT “only human”, my Friends … we are HUMAN. We are conscious and thereby have the power of choice; and as such, we also have the power in any given moment to purposefully set aside our our own wants & self-centered fixations in favor of thinking about the welfare of another or doing something Kind for them.
Can we go the rest of our lives without “sinning” in this way ever again? Probably not … And yet our Purpose is not to become perfect for the rest of our lives (Thank God for that … literally!)
No, our Mission in Life is simply to re-awaken our Soul; to become a Child of God anew by knowing & then enlivening a divine & perfect LOVE. And we are not to do so permanently or even consistently over any period of time. We are rather only to do so for one brief instant — THIS present instant; this particular moment; the one you are currently living, right here & right now.
And that’s it … That’s all we have to do:
*In those moments when you are yearning for something, choose to think on the well-being of another instead of your own pleasures;
*In those moments you are being attacked, choose to be Kind to your enemies instead of attacking them in return or defending yourself against them;
*And in those moments when you are fantasizing about another or wanting to flirt with someone else, choose to be gentle & Loving towards your current spouse or partner instead.
And remember: we don’t have to do so for “the rest of our lives”; a task so daunting that we tend to give up before we even get started.
No, we only have to extend this pure, selfless LOVE for one little moment — THIS moment … and then we simply must choose to do so again & again & again. Every time we do so, we will be returning to LOVE and allowing our True Self to be reborn. And every time we don’t do so, we simply need to pause and choose to do so again once more.
So, the next time you are tempted to betray your wife or your husband or your partner in any way — either physically via flirting or affair, or mentally via lust or fantasy — try remembering who you truly Are instead.
For just one moment — just THAT moment — try returning to LOVE.
Amen … Let it be so.
*P.S. In case you are interested, the Bible itself incorrectly says that Jesus was born of a “virgin”. While Matthew 1:23 does indeed contain the Greek word “parthenos”, which CAN indeed mean “virgin” in the traditional sense, this particular verse makes this claim while restating a prophecy from the Old Testament book of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14); a prophecy which employs the Hebrew term “almah” — a word which scholars agree means “a young woman of child-bearing age” … NOT “a virgin”.
Of course, despite this convenient manipulation of scripture by Matthew’s author, it is indeed possible that Jesus WAS born of a virgin. Parthenogensis, the ability to reproduce non-sexually, is an ability found in quite a few species on Earth — including aphids, honeybees, hammerhead sharks, certain types of geckos, Komodo dragons, and some chickens & turkeys. And in mid-2007 the International Stem Cell Corporation was even able to create human stem cells from unfertilized human eggs using parthenogenesis.
So even though it is EXTREMELY unlikely that Jesus was conceived non-sexually, it IS possible that he was.
Of course, these tidbits of Truth actually don’t even matter one bit. After all, it doesn’t take a miraculous birth to make what Jesus selflessly did and how Jesus selflessly lived and the LOVE Jesus selflessly gave to be fully miraculous … They were then … They still are now … And in your own life, they still could be!
;