War Cry - September, 2013 Page 19

another extramarital affair.

For at least the

fi rst few months after my adultery, I was

careless. After the affair, and before forgiving myself, I pun-
ished myself some more. I risked and reduced myself for a
charming but impurely intentioned young businessman I'd
met in a bar. I am saddened by the thought of other women
who feel now how I did then.

Before the adultery, I would have thought myself above

fl irting and fooling around with a relative stranger. As I look

back now, though, I see how such a severe loss of purity
through adultery triggered an identity crisis. If I de

fi ned my-

self by how "good" I was before my adultery, then shouldn't I
rede

fi ne myself by how "bad" I was because of it?

But that's not how God sees us. It's not how He loves us.
And it's not why Jesus came, died and was resurrected for us.
An ember of hope helped me begin to reclaim purity,

hope that what the Bible said about redemption was true.
And not just true, but that it could be true for me.

Could my scarlet sins be made white like snow, the way God

speaks of in Isaiah 1:18?

"`Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the Lord.
`Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.'"
Would the God I pledged my heart to at

fi ve years old re-

ally make me as pure as I was as a child?

It wasn't a question about whether He could or would do

it, but of whether or not I would accept it. We can know the
Bible is real but still doubt that it can be reality--our reality.
My reality then was that I was the "other woman" in an adul-
terous relationship that hurt people I cared about and left me
feeling like "damaged goods."

fi nally dared to believe that God's power and promises

were for me, too.

And I boldly started to believe the Truth more than the

enemy's lies.

There is no mistaking that God means to still give me His

best for my life. And there is no question in my mind that
He can--and wants--to do for you what He's done for me.

Rebecca Halton is the author of Words from the Other Woman: The

True Account of a Redeemed Adulteress. Currently, she also co-leads
TeamRedeemed.org with fellow author and speaker Shelley Hendrix.

In her spare time, Rebecca likes hiking, having coffee with close
friends, or volunteering in her community.
To learn more about Rebecca, visit
www.RebeccaHalton.com.

September

2O13

W W W . S A I N T E R S E C T I O N . O R G

Million Dollar Playgrounds

ear the end of July,

news quickly spread that the

city of Detroit was fi ling for chapter 9 bankruptcy
protection. The bankruptcy fi ling makes Detroit the

largest city in U.S. history to do so. Less than a
week later, news broke that Detroit's
professional hockey team, the Red Wings, had
been granted approval to move ahead with
plans to construct a new $450 million arena.

Just days following the Detroit arena news,

another city held a news conference
announcing plans to build a new multi-million
dollar sports venue. This time, DC's professional
soccer team, DC United, announced an
agreement with city government to build a
$300 million soccer stadium.

It's no secret that professional athletes are

paid enormous salaries. According to a report
on Yahoo! Sports, the average annual salaries of
professional athletes range from $1.9 million in the NFL
to $5.15 million in the NBA, with professional baseball
and hockey players falling in between.

As a society, it would seem that we are okay with doling

out these egregious sums of money for what most would
describe as recreation or a hobby. Please understand that
the intent is not to vilify sports or athletes, but to simply

highlight what could be
considered a systemic problem.

The latest census fi gures show

that the poverty rate in America is at
15% � 46.2 million people are living below
the poverty line. The question is whether is it
acceptable to be spending hundreds of millions
of dollars to build recreational centers for
millionaire athletes to play their games. There's
no question that the buildings will be fi lled to
capacity and many more billions of dollars will
be made by the players and the teams, but
what about the others?

The biblical standard is that the community

ought to be caring for their own. The prophet
Isaiah made it clear that it was the community's
responsibility to "learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the

fatherless; plead the case of the widow" (Isaiah 1:17).
Consider this sober reminder from the writer of Proverbs:
"Oppressing the poor to get rich and giving to the wealthy
lead only to poverty" (Proverbs 22:16).

Is there a better way? Can we enjoy sports and the

God-given athletic abilities of athletes while still caring for
those around us? Let us hear your thoughts.

IN THE

HEAD

LINES

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