Being In Love and Infidelity
Can A Woman Be In Love and Cheat?
This question was posted in a group and there were “yes” and “no” answers, primarily “yes.” I am unsure why it was gender specific so I ask you now, “Can a Man or Woman Be In Love and Cheat?” An explanation of the “yes” response was requested but no response was given.
The Way of Love
Many of us believe love (or being “in love”) is/does all these things in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (ESV), and cheating is not listed. This is the way of love:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
If someone “in love” cheats, they have not taken on the role of maturity and still behaving childishly. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says,
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
The Law of First Things
It is not love but infatuation or the idea of love. In their defense, they do not know they are not “in love.” Some say it was a mistake [ to cheat] but the mistake is not having a clue what it means to be in love with someone. We have heard of The Law of First Things. We are to love God first, that is a given. In this scenario, the first thing is respect for yourself. Cheating, unfaithfulness or infidelity, whatever you call it, is ultimate disrespect of ones self. One can be tempted without yielding to it. Pure love for God, the person you love and love for yourself has the power to keep you faithful.