I ‘could’ cheat on my husband…

By Anne Jackson

Published: December 13, 2009

I haven’t written about sex on here in a long time. With some recent comments on my post, An Emotional Affair, and some emails resulting from that topic I thought now might be a good time.

The title of this post is true. 100%. I "could" cheat on my husband. I remember a couple of years ago, hanging out at my old church talking with one of my friends. I don’t know how we got on the subject but we started talking about infidelity and how nobody is immune from it.

She said, “I could cheat on my husband. No doubt. I totally could.”

Her initial candidness surprised me at first, but within moments I realized how right she was. Two of our staff members had fallen into the trap of an affair, several of our key volunteers had as well, all within a year. I remember everyone’s reaction who learned of the affairs:

“Never in a million years would I have thought…”

Exactly. And let me tell you, I keep in touch with some of these people who were involved in the affairs, and they say the exact same thing:

“Never in a million years would I have thought…”

I love my husband. I adore him. He is the most generous and patient person in the world. And never in a million years would I think I could cheat on him.

But it’s that mindset of letting your guard down where Satan would love to throw you in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person and then before you know it…

You are the one who is looking in the mirror wondering how in the world you could have done it.

You are the one whose heart is pounding in your throat because you know you have to confess to your beloved.

You are the one who has to look your children in their eyes and explain why you’re going to be away for a while.

You are the one who is crumpled on the floor like a big ball of goo, weeping your entire being out in a deluge of tears and pain.

It could happen to me.

It could happen to you.

What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t?

Anne Jackson serves on staff at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Her articles have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and her blog, Flowerdust.net, is ranked as one of the top blogs in Christian Leadership with hundreds of thousands of pageviews a month. She is an advocate for Compassion International, a down-to-earth communicator, and an all around dreamer. Anne has an unwavering passion to see the Church grow, thrive, and fulfill its purpose. Her book Mad Church Disease (Zondervan), February 2009.