There are literally thousands of homes in and around Mentone that have been struck down by revelations through the Ashley Madison hacking. If you have been affected by this website, we want you to know that there is a local church that has resources available to help. Please read the statement below which was published last week on mentonebaptist.com.au.
Over coming days thousands of marriages along the Bayside corridor of Melbourne will be coming under immense pressure, and sadly many will break. The hacking of the Ashley Madison website has leaked the names and personal details of millions of men and women from across the globe, and the media has since broken down the numbers according to postcodes across Australia.
From Black Rock to Parkdale, and from Bentleigh to Edithvale, between 4-12% of households have have at least one person who has registered a profile on this adultery set-up website.
I imagine that for many people who have been caught up in this, that you are experiencing a range of emotions and thoughts including shame, fear, anxiety, and guilt. If you are thinking about self-harm please call now, Lifeline on 131114. There are trained people at Lifeline to listen and help.
What you should do:
1. Confess to your spouse, sooner than later. Don’t play the victim and don’t make excuses for your behaviour. With gentleness and honesty confess your actions to your spouse.
2. Give them time to process what has happened and don’t make demands on them.
3. Expect a range of responses from your spouse: from shock, disappointment, anger, confusion, and that’s just for starters.
4. Where children are involved, don’t lie to them but neither share more information than is age appropriate. Also, avoid transferring your emotions and thoughts onto the children.
5. Ask for help.
Adultery is not easily fixed, but repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation is possible.
How we can help:
Mentone Baptist Church is a safe place for hurting families and for couples who are wanting to reconcile their marriages. You are welcome to visit, 10am Sundays. You can also contact the Pastors at admin@mentonebaptist.com.au.
We have a trained marriage counsellor who is available to counsel couples through this. Appointments with Faye Ludik can be arranged by emailing faye.ludik@mentonebaptist.com.au.
Ultimately, we want to point you to Jesus Christ, because in Jesus we learn that while God doesn’t dismiss our sins or take them lightly, his mercy is greater than our mistakes; God’s love is better than our lust.
As a society we have accepted that casual sex is ok, and even that adultery is ok. Why then, is it so painful? Why does it hurt so much when you learn that your husband or wife has been having sex with someone else?
Perhaps the public will expect Churches to simply criticise and condemn people who have signed up to Ashley Madison. The truth is, our churches are made up of people who’ve realised that they are broken and sinful. Jesus didn’t go to a cross for the ethical elite, but for those who are aware of their guilt and understand that they need One better and purer than themselves in order to save them.
Two of Jesus’ closest friends, Paul and John, wrote the following words which well sum up the Christian message:
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” (Acts 13:38)
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1)
MurrayCampbell.net 