Staying faithful in marriage is a choice that husbands must actively make every single day.
Many factors can strain fidelity – like temptation, complacency, or emotional distance. By investing wholeheartedly into your relationship you can remain faithful to your wife.
Lean on God for strength, develop intimacy, communicate openly, address issues early, and preserve trust. These will help you to remain unwaveringly committed to your wife for life.
1. Accept Yourself as a Sexual Being
As men, God created us with a strong sexual appetite that manifests frequently from a young age. Feeling “horny” is completely natural and not something to feel ashamed about.
However, this intense drive can lead us to temptation if misunderstood by our wives or left unchecked. Accepting ourselves as the sexual beings we are is the first step to channeling those feelings appropriately.
When tensions do arise, bring the issue gently to your wife rather than letting bitterness or resentment take root.
Make an effort to meet one another’s needs following the biblical principle that our bodies belong to our spouses.
“3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
1 Corinthians 7:3-4 (ESV)
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2. Make Your Marriage Your Top Priority
After our relationship with God, no other human relationship should rank above our marriage. The Bible calls us to “leave and cleave” – meaning your wife’s needs come before those of your parents, friends, or even children.
Participate fully in the day-to-day acts of service that strengthen emotional intimacy like household chores, errands, projects, etc.
Spend regular quality time with your wife, without the distractions of work, screens, or other obligations constantly demanding your attention.
Date nights, focused conversations, affection, and undivided attention all build a stronger connection with your spouse. Make your wife feel she is your top priority.
3. Carefully Guard Your Mind and Eyes
Pornography and sexually charged images have become increasingly pervasive and impossible to fully avoid.
However what media you choose to consume has profound effects on your thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.
Job 31:1 (NIV) states,
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.”
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Be wise in protecting your eyes, your imagination, and your heart by setting strict boundaries on visual temptation.
Related to this, be careful not to spend extended time alone with female friends, co-workers, and acquaintances. Meeting one-on-one can quickly cross emotional and physical lines without realizing it.
Do everything possible to shut the door to adultery long before you reach that point.
4. Practice Complete Openness
Secrecy kills intimacy. Hidden temptations easily escalate without the light of accountability. Bring your struggles into the light by sharing them openly with your wife – even when it’s uncomfortable or embarrassing.
Talk about situations at work that involve other women, conversations that cross boundaries, images that replay in your mind against your will… all of it.
Your marriage will grow through bringing your shadows into the light together.
Openness may sting in the beginning but your wife will learn to see you as human, know you deeply, and trust you completely when you demonstrate transparency consistently.
5. Connect with God Every Day
No matter how strong your human resolutions are you cannot overcome constant temptation in your own finite power.
Start each day by seeking God through prayer and Scripture. Ask Him to give you strength far beyond yourself.
Building your relationship with God fills the inner void we often try to satisfy elsewhere. Seeking God’s presence reorients your steps to your divine purpose and destiny as a husband.
Stay vigilant against pride that believes that you are immune to falling into affairs once married. None of us are above seduction given the right circumstances.
Sin often happens gradually, when you excuse “minor” infractions that desensitize your conscience over time. Rely fully on God’s wisdom and strength to endure.
6. Invest Your Best Into Your Marriage
What priorities take up your mental energy, financial resources, and spare time?
Redirect anything siphoned away from your marriage back to enriching that covenant relationship.
Set the tone through small gestures like love notes, sweet texts, flowers, or her favorite treat. Take the initiative to get creative in loving your wife so she feels like a queen.
Protect your bond by establishing healthy boundaries with female co-workers, colleagues, and friends.
Always ask yourself if certain relationships or habits subtly undermine your loyalty.
7. Choose Faithfulness One Day at a Time
Living faithfully for a lifetime requires sacrifice, self-discipline, and rejecting excuses that assume slipping occasionally is inevitable.
Stay vigilant against discounting even mental affairs as harmless to integrity.
Learn to identify vulnerabilities early like disconnectedness, neglect, unresolved conflicts, or sexual dullness which the enemy aims to exploit with temptation. Address issues openly and seek help to reconcile.
Victory comes one day at a time through the intentional effort that springs from unconditional love. You must summon our strongest internal resolve, approved by God’s grace to keep your marital honor intact.
Staying faithful in a world full of alternative offers requires moral courage and divine strength. But its rewards reap untold blessings on you, your marriage, and your family for generations to come.
Walk proudly in your integrity and lead others to do the same.
Key Takeaways
- Accept yourself fully as a sexual being while reserving intimacy for marriage
- Make your wife and marriage the #1 priority through time, acts of service and undivided attention
- Carefully guard your eyes and mind from imagery and media tempting sexual compromise
- Cultivate complete openness and honesty with your wife
- Connect intimately with God daily as the source of fidelity’s strength
- Redirect anything inadvertently draining your intimacy back into nurturing your emotional connection
- Reject subtle violations early before they erode integrity incrementally
- Victory comes daily through small decisions and sacrifices that prioritize a committed relationship
In conclusion
While resisting constant temptation poses a very real challenge, maintaining faithfulness remains entirely possible through prioritizing intimacy with your wife, connecting consistently to God, erecting healthy boundaries, and acknowledging vulnerability quickly.
If you’re struggling, seek help immediately rather than flirt with danger which can lead to disaster. Your fidelity honors her, guards future generations, and reveals Christ’s love!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What if resisting temptation feels impossible in the moment?
A. Flee immediately. Call a trusted friend or your wife to intercede in prayer. Recite Scripture to train thought patterns. Remove yourself fully from any tempting situation without hesitation. Walk away.
Q. What constitutes emotional infidelity?
A. Secretly pouring time, energy, and affection into another woman. Sharing intimate details about your marriage, hopes, dreams, or struggles. Flirtatious jokes, compliments, or touch. Complaints that subtly invite consolation. Receiving support or empathy exceeding proper boundaries.
Q. How can my wife support faithfulness?
A. Practice spiritual disciplines like Scripture reading and prayer together. Call in when apart to show care and concern. Foster emotional, physical, and sexual intimacy. Give grace during failures while rejecting excuses or passivity. Lovingly model Christ.
Q. How do I rebuild trust after mistakes?
A. Transparency, honesty, and vulnerability in the wake of betrayal communicate humility and can restore hope. Make no demands. Seek accountability and counseling. Demonstrate a desire for deep change, not hiding sin but destroying it ruthlessly.
