And after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"
Fidelity is absolutely crucial in a marriage, and it's very easy to see what Potiphar's wife did wrong here. But it's also important to note what Joseph did right -
And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her.
Joseph kept as far as he possibly could from sexual temptation. He avoided every appearance of evil.
Recently a new vendor started coming to my workplace. He was a nice guy with a really nice smile. One day I remarked to a co-worker that this guy has a great smile. That was all I meant by that statement - nothing more whatsoever. But my co-worker, a non-Christian, quickly said, "You're married!" And I realized two things:
1) What may be absolutely innocent to us might not appear that way to the rest of the world. Others do not know your thoughts or feelings. Others do not know what does or does not go on behind closed doors. Like Joseph, we need to avoid every appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22). That innocent ride home from a male co-worker might not look so innocent to others. And it's certainly fodder for office gossip. Do everything you can to not set off wagging tongues.
2) In noticing this man's smile, I was opening a door. Sure, I had no intentions of anything, no desire for any sort of relationship. That was the furthest thing from my mind. But we are not to give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). It starts with noticing somebody's smile or his eyes or his biceps. Maybe it's just getting together for lunch with an old friend from high school. Maybe it's meeting alone with a male pastor for a counseling session. Whatever it may be, take a lesson from Joseph and flee (v. 12).
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