Why You Shouldn't Have an Emotional Affair

Written by Aaron & April Jacob

Should you have an emotional affair? 

​No. 

You should not have an emotional affair.

You just shouldn't. 

Why? 

Here are six reasons you should be aware of. 

1. An emotional affair will never make you happy. 

It's impossible to be cheating on your spouse and breaking promises you made on your wedding day and to still be happy. You may think you are happy for a time, but that happiness will lead to sorrow and regret in the end (or before the end).

2. An emotional affair will lead to a physical, full-blown affair. 

Naturally. What you thought was innocent and fun and "not a big deal," will very quickly escalate into more. You don't want that. 

3. An emotional affair will hurt your spouse, damage your marriage, and hurt your children. 

Big time. It's hard to even explain all the damage that can be done, but think of your spouse and think of your children. Do you want to hurt them and distance yourself from them? We didn't think so. Emotional affairs will distance you from your spouse and try to convince you why you don't/shouldn't love your spouse anymore. That's dangerous.

4. An emotional affair won't solve your problems. 

It will simply create new ones. If you thought that an emotional affair was your escape from your problems, or from your rocky relationship with your spouse, or from any other hard reality that stresses you out, you are wrong.

Emotional affairs create new problems. Big problems. Real problems. Ones you can't really escape from, but have to face head on 

5. An emotional affair will make you feel bad about yourself. 

Making poor choices will lead you to lose confidence in yourself, to doubt yourself and your ability to make good choices, and will invite a great deal of sadness into your life.

Lying, hiding, and feeling guilty is not the recipe for a happy and healthy life. 

6. An emotional affair, if it causes you to divorce your spouse and marry your "lover," will never lead to the kind of happiness you want in a relationship. 

​How can you trust your new spouse when you both cheated on your old spouses together? Starting a relationship without trust is going to make for a very tough beginning together. ​

However, we don't want to discourage you.

Well, we do want to discourage you from having an emotional affair, but we don't want to discourage you if you have had one, or are having one, and you want to change, or you're even thinking about changing.

We're only sharing these truths because we want to help you AVOID emotional affairs by doing one simple thing.

One Secret to Help You Avoid an Emotional Affair...

You can avoid an emotional affair by doing this one simple thing.

​Are you ready to hear it? 

Nurture your marriage.

That's right. 

You simply need to nurture your marriage. 

That's it. 

Take care of your marriage.

Put all of your time, thought, and energy into your marriage and not into a fleeting affair. 

And then you will be happy. Or, at least you will be happier. 

You are right, your marriage may not be perfect. Your spouse may not reciprocate in just the right way. And life will still have trials and stresses and challenges. 

However, you can be happy when you choose to do what is right, and to do your part to think of your spouse first, to find ways to meet his or her needs, and to do all you can to create the type of marriage that you have always hoped for.

If you want to learn a few little things you can do to nurture your marriage this week, read

First Dates are for Married Couples, Too!
10 Reasons You & Your Spouse Need a Romantic Getaway
What Love Looks Like
The Art of Being a More Patient Spouse
and
Is Love Really a Choice?

Happy nurturing!
 ~ Aaron & April
​
Photo Credit: Jason Corey Photography

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