Before you got married, you had a life. You may have also done things you are not proud of or led a reckless life before discovering God. The good news is that all that is over. As a believer, especially as a married person, you have to shun every relationship that does not uphold purity in your life. You must turn away from these sins and resolve never to return to them.
The devil will cease to take every opportunity to bring down your marriage, and as such, you will only be giving him room to destroy your marriage when you fall back to sin by rekindling old flames from the past. One of the easiest ways for the devil to gain access to your home is through your failure to leave your former life and cleave to your partner completely. This is one of the largest reasons for the increase in the rate of adultery, and a lot of married people have gotten into trouble as a result.
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However, this is not to say that you cannot have friends. You can still maintain healthy and profitable relationships with other people through work, family, and the places life takes you. But such relationships must have nothing to do with lust and sexual sins.
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”
Proverbs 17:17
When you encourage any ungodly relationship, it often leads you into committing adultery. This breaks God’s heart and attracts demons to attack your family.
Your Body versus your Heart
It is possible to give someone your body while keeping your heart hidden from them. Many men and women have given their partners their bodies but not their hearts and spirits. While their bodies are with their partners, their minds think of old affairs with their old lovers. Remember when I said you could have friends? Yes, you can, but while you might feel the need to respect people and be nice to them, you must insist on honoring your relationship with God more. God has commanded us to flee from all appearances of lust, foolishness, and sin.
“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes”
2 Timothy 2:22-23
There is an old saying that goes thus, “A dog never goes back to its vomit.” Likewise, regardless of how pleasant your past sinful relationships were before marriage, you must repent and cut off any link that exists. Often times, these old flames may come bearing enticing gifts, ensnaring you into their traps. Therefore, you must avoid them! Do not allow the love of money or material things to tear your marriage apart. Anyone who can comfortably come in between you and your spouse is evil, and this can break the covenant of your marriage. Is it not better to lose an old friend than to disobey God?
When you determine truthfully to leave former things behind in order to cleave to each other, overcoming challenges becomes very easy, and God will reward your obedience to His word and will. You will equally enjoy genuine peace and happiness in your marriage.