Petraeus Your Life

In our Verb class at Verve we talk about how, if you want to make a difference with your life, character counts. It’s not enough to be skilled and passionate, you need godly character as your foundation. If not, your life will likely become a cautionary tale or a late night talk show joke.

That teaching has become front page news (wait, are there still newspapers?) with General Petraeus.

One aspect of godly character is wisdom. And wisdom leads to wise habits and safeguards that prevent us from going off the rails and making a train wreck of our lives.

Petraeus obviously didn’t install wise habits. What kinds of habits did he have in his life? I don’t know, but here are some habits that lead to affairs (and how you too can Petraeus your life!!) –

1. Don’t go on dates with your spouse.
2. Don’t have sex often with your spouse.
3. Spend lots of time away from your spouse.
4. Spend time with a friend of the opposite sex.
5. Talk to that friend about your life.
6. Share your marriage problems with that friend.
7. Don’t have (same gender) people in your life you share your secrets with and who keep you accountable.
8. Don’t think about all you’ll lose (intimacy with God, the respect of people, marriage, kids, etc.) for a few moments of pleasure.
9. Convince yourself that you deserve this, or that your situation is different, or (whatever excuse will work for you).
10. Let your guard down just once with your friend of the opposite sex.  (Make sure not to tell anyone what’s happened!)
11. Wait for the impending disaster, because you’ve already lit the fuse. (Congratulations!)