«Nevertheless because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband»(Corinthians 7:2).
Corinth is considered one of the most prosperous cities of antiquity. Situated in Greece,80 km south of Athens, Corinth was at the crossroads between the north (Continental Greece) and the south (The Peloponnese), and between the east (Asia) and the west (Rome). Its two harbors took over the greatest part of transportation in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a transit point for sailors, soldiers, merchants, and all types of travelers. It was a city of great importance during the Greek Empire and even more during the Roman conquest, especially after the reconstruction commissioned by Julius Cesar between 46 and 44 BC. It reached greater dimensions when temples were restored and squares and marketplaces were widened. It is estimated that during the first century of the Christian era, Corinth had half a million inhabitants and the largest marketplace of the Roman Empire was next to an amphitheater that could accommodate fourteen thousand attendees
But the abundance and the prosperity brought immorality and dissipation among the inhabitants. The Greek language itself adopted a word, korintiazomai which means “I am like a Corinthian, conveying the condition of a libertine. Similarly, korintia kore (Corinthian young woman) was used to refer to a prostitute. But what brought fame to the dissipation of the ancient Corinth was the activities that took place at the temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Worshiping Aphrodite had its origins in the times of the Imperial Greek and continued during the Roman era, as some Roman coins with the image of the mentioned temple proved. This temple had a large group of prostitutes who offered themselves as sacred sexual tools to the citizens and travelers.
In the middle of this great metropolis, there was a small congregation of new Christians—a flock of people that the apostle Paul himself had founded (l Cor. 4: were exposed to the sinful temptations of the environment. Thus, Paul urges the Corinthian men to have their own wives, and the women to have their own husbands as a safeguard according to God’s plan since Creation.
The Temptations of our time are not particularly less significant. It is not surprising that one third of divorces are caused by infidelity. The Christians of today, like the Corinthians, are not immune to this problem. Contemplate today the enormous damages that sexual immorality and marital infidelity cause to our family relations and how they spoil our relationship with God.
Decide today, by His grace, to follow the biblical recommendation of fidelity.