The First Desperate Housewife

What we see on TV or read about in romance novels is far from reality. Even when we know that, these images can entice us with their glitter and glamour. Then, when our own lives seem boring, we can be tempted to look at other options. And that can lead us down a path of trouble, just like it did for Potiphar's wife.

Potiphar was an Egyptian official in Pharaoh's court, and his wife could be described as the first "desperate housewife." However, her enticement didn't start with TV or a romance novel. She had the real thing: a good-looking young man named Joseph. Joseph was unknowingly about to become the prey of the first "desperate housewife."

It seems that this didn't happen overnight. After all, he was a servant, but his competence and air of authority revealed that he was a cut above the average servant, and he quickly was elevated to a position overseeing the household. Genesis 39:7 tells us that "after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph." Perhaps she watched him, flirted with him and dreamed about him until her sinful thoughts led to action.

How do we keep from falling into such a trap? First, we can choose to avoid looking at anything that can lead us into temptation. But if we are tempted, we can ask for God's help instead of dwelling on the object of our temptation.

If we are married, our spouse should be covering over our eyes, protecting us from looking at others. Besides, the grass is not always greener on the other side. I guarantee that any body you look at has bad habits too.

We are human and make mistake; no one is perfect this side of heaven. That's why it's so important to be on guard. Single or married, the good new is we don't have to be desperate for what can harm us because "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
-Micca Campbell

{Matthew 6:13}
And don’t let us yield to temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

 

{1 Corinthians 6:18-7:5}

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.  

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,  

20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

 

1 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations.  

2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

{Hebrews 2:18}

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.