The Second Commandment of Marriage:  Don't Love a Substitute

In the second commandment recorded in Exodus 20:4-6, we are given the second principle for a strong marriage,

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

God commanded that there be no carved images, whether in heaven, in earth, or in the sea.  He wanted to make sure everything was covered.  And He said not to bow down to them and worship them.  God said, "Do not make images of Me and then worship them.  Don not love or worship a substitute for Me.  Love Me."

Religion has made pictures, statues, and idols and then called them holy.  They are all imitations.  They are all substitutes.  And in marriage we should have no substitutes either.

Love your husband only.  Love your wife only.  Do not look for fulfillment in some other relationship or in some other thing.  Find your fulfillment in that relationship.

Pornography is a substitute.  When a man watches pornography, he is loving a substitute.  He is directing his passion and his sexuality toward those images.  That is a substitute, and he is robbing his wife of that intimacy.

Do not allow any substitute, no matter what it might be, to take the place of intimacy with your spouse.


Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to connect with God. 

Answers for each day devo image JanFEATURED RESOURCE

Chase the abundant life God has for you!

Peace, love, purpose, passion, restoration, healing . . . we all want to experience those things this year. But is it actually possible?

It is—because God invites you to pursue the abundant life in Him every day!  And you’ll find out exactly how to do that with Bayless Conley’s NEW book, Great Pursuits: Chasing What Matters Most in Life.

This resource gives you scriptural, practical, and personal lessons from God’s Word—as well as from Bayless’ own life—to help you pursue what’s most important in life even in these challenging times.

Click here to learn more!