So for a spouse to seek sex outside marriage is a lie, a denial of the marriage, and the only grounds that Jesus permits for divorce. This does not mean that divorce has to follow adultery. Repentance, reconciliation and forgiveness is a better alternative. President Clinton went on television, wagged his finger and declared that he had not had sex with Monica Lewinski. In one sense he was right, but that did not make his actions right or any less adulterous.
Adultery begins with that thought and has devastating consequences.
It shatters trust, intimacy, and self-esteem. It breaks up families, ruins careers, and leaves a trail of pain and destruction in its path. The potential legacy of emotional pain for children should be enough to make a person stop and count the costs before it's too late. Even when affairs are never exposed, emotional costs are involved. For example, adulterers deprive their spouses of energy and intimacy that should go into the marriage.