One of the biggest lies that abounds when it comes to intimate relationships is that people believe that they are ok if they do not cross the intimate sexual relationship.  In the case of Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), he has attempted to cast his infidelity as a love story, but this tragedy shows that it wasn’t something that happened once because “I fell in love” but a string of romances that were pointing to what would eventually happen.

Part of the problem with any moral sin is that it rarely starts with the final act.  It’s something that takes place over a longer period of time.  Hence why Gov. Sanford can say the following:

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress—but never had sex with them.

The governor said he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.

"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day." [Breitbart.com – SC gov ‘crossed lines’ with women]

You see the pattern—he had had an emotional coupling, or expressed interest in at least a handful of women and for some reason they never went “all the way”, but this last girl did.

This is a man that knew what he was doing was wrong, but both desired it and could justify what he was doing in his mind.  He knew he “crossed lines” and he either stopped it or did not let it go on, but the fact that it happened multiple times should have been like a voice calling out for help.

He should have sought help—and perhaps he did.  Whether it was from his wife, his pastor, whomever—he knew he had a struggle, and it would be destined to bring him down.  Yet he did not seek out help.

How different this story would have been if he would have sought out that help.

How about you?  If you take inventory of your heart, where are your sins and are you seeking help?  Everyone has things that they fight against, sins that that so easily entangle them.  We’re supposed to show kindness to one another, to provide accountability and lift each other up.

Get help, go to prayer, and seek to make things right.  Repentance is not easy, but it is liberating.  Getting help to protect you from what can happen will strengthen you and help keep you from what could happen!