The Institute (協会)

I told my husband last night that if that were him, he would be up there alone. No way would I stand there with him, brunting in any way the consequence of his sin. I would, however, be praying, seeking counsel on how I would deal with the impact of this on my family, myself, and my husband. Then there is, as a Christ-follower, discerning how God's grace must work in that particular situation, in all it's depth. This failure in Spitzer's life, as all failures, has the potential of shining God's grace in this world. I wonder if Tim Keller, or anyone in his church, would have any opportunity to reach out to Spitzer and his wife?

I told my husband last night that if that were him, he would be up there alone. No way would I stand there with him, brunting in any way the consequence of his sin. I would, however, be praying, seeking counsel on how I would deal with the impact of this on my family, myself, and my husband. Then there is, as a Christ-follower, discerning how God's grace must work in that particular situation, in all it's depth. This failure in Spitzer's life, as all failures, has the potential of shining God's grace in this world. I wonder if Tim Keller, or anyone in his church, would have any opportunity to reach out to Spitzer and his wife?

"...But Should His Wife?"

Anthony, what do you mean by this?

Sadly, when these sort of things happen, too often the wife bears an inordinate sense of guilt for her husband's sin. I can't say that this is the case here, but it's not uncommon.

Why don't they do what Dick Armey said his wife would in that situation?

#1; it's hard to leave your spouse, especially for a woman. Sex bonds people.

#2; many of these spouses may see themselves as prostitutes in a manner of speaking--tied to a standard of living that only the philanderer can earn them, or having squandered the treasure of their upbringing in exchange for fame, money, and power.

There's actually an article on MSN's webpage attempting to answer this question right now. Weighing in is Dina Matos, ex-wife of a New Jersey governor who came out of the closet during a press conference a few years back as she stood beside him. She said her chief concern was their three-year old daughter - she wanted to provide some sense of normalcy for the child during the whirlwind surrounding her husband's "coming out" party. She also speculated that that might be what motivated Mrs. Spitzer to stand beside her husband during their press conference - the Spitzer's have three teenage daughters. If that's the case, I think it's admirable that these wives swallowed their pride for the sake of providing as much stability for their kids as possible.

The grace that our Lord puts on women..their willingness to forgive our failures as men never ceases to amaze me. And that maybe what is at work....remember, the female pain threshold is so much stronger than ours.
At the end, what matters is that where all this sin abounded, His grace abounds all the more. True repentance, true forgiveness and true humility.
May the Lord keep us all from screwing up like that.

Women are freaking amazing! , and incredibly naive.

Justin, it seems very kind to do just that until one realizes that the philanderers of the world are watching. I would dare suggest that had Bill Clinton (Craig, Vitter, whoever) shown up with a black eye after being handed divorce papers, instead of with Hillary standing by her man, people like Eliot Spitzer would have taken notice.

Forgiveness for a real apology (which I haven't yet seen from Spitzer, BTW) doesn't mean that a person is spared the consequences of his actions, and when we pretend that it should be that way, we merely set the stage for the next offense.