(upbeat music) - A podcast listener named Laura writes in to ask this. Dear Pastor John, my husband and I were out shopping and I saw him check out this very nice looking woman who was rather scantily dressed. We are seniors and I thank God for the way that I look at 70, even though I'm more concerned about how much I resemble my savior and Lord.

We walked out of the store and he practically ran with a cart to get a better look at this much younger woman. It broke my heart because I have no interest in anyone but him. My question is how do I deal with this? I know in my heart he committed adultery according to God's word.

Is this typical of older men? Will it get worse? Will he lose his desire for me? Is it just him or is it me? So Pastor John, what would you say to Laura or to any wife who feels like she is competing with other women for her husband's attention?

- Well, Tony, I've got to say something to the man first. I know you and she are asking for me to counsel her and I will in just a minute, but I've got to address this man just in case he or other men. I'm 68, I know what she's talking about.

And so let me say something to him. And here in brief is what I'm gonna say to him. Put the desire for the flesh of another woman in sight or in hand. Isn't it interesting that Jesus said, "If your eye calls you to sin "or if your hand calls you to sin, "gouge it out, cut it off." Whether it's sight or hand, like a man in a nursing home that reaches out and pets a behind of a nurse.

I mean, I'm talking, yes, this sort of thing happens. Put that to death, man, by the spirit as soon as it raises its head. Tear your eye out, renounce the lure and turn away. Don't dignify the bait of the flesh by biting on it. It's all shiny like a fishing lure, but it's got hooks in it and they will make you look stupid when they pull your jaw apart.

So let me, another word to the husband. You are old enough, fella, to know that there are deeper, wider, longer, greater pleasures in life than the titillation of skin. Come on, this is adolescent of you. It is mere animal. A 70-year-old man acting like a dog in heat is not only silly, it's tragic.

It's a tragic witness to 70 wasted years for getting a wise heart. One last word to Mr. Man. One aspect of that wisdom, old sage, is the value of your wife. The 70-something sage says, okay, this is the sage, the real man who's learned 70 years worth of wisdom.

He says, "This is my woman. "Saggy, blotchy skin, gray hair, wrinkled face, "decreased or absent libido. "This is my woman, my treasure, my jewel, "my gift from heaven, my covenant one, "my intimate flesh, my own body, myself. "To be faithful to her with my eyes and my hands "is a satisfaction deeper and higher and sweeter "than any glimpse or any touch "of any other woman in the world." That's what the 70-something sage says.

Okay, now, Laura, you asked about your own heart, and here's my word to you. Number one, in a moment of solitude with your husband, I mean, nobody else around, when things are good, it is permissible and fitting to say with affection something like this. Can I share my heart with you about something?

I could be wrong in how seriously to take it, honey, but it seemed to me that you tried pretty hard to look at a young woman this morning who was kind of scantily clad. I know that such a sight will always catch a man's eye. She knows it, too.

That's her whole point. I don't blame you for that glance. You're a man. But I think it was Billy Graham who said, "It's the second look that's the trouble." And whether he's right about that or not, it made me feel bad. It made me feel less loved, less valued.

I know you didn't mean that, probably. I love you. I don't want to feel like I'm losing your heart or even your eyes. And then you pray that God will take that conversation in a healing direction. So I just wanna give you permission to go ahead. That's not insubordination or inappropriate at all to go to him that way.

Here's the second thing I'd say. No, it is not inevitable that older men need to pursue younger women with their eyes because their wives are aging. No. A man can mature and love his wife for all that she has been and is and will be, including delicious memories of young bodies and deep pleasures of present and seasoned faithfulness.

If a man insists on being a playboy at age 70, he should realize that he indeed is playing the part of a boy and not a man, and he should be ashamed. And the third thing I would say, Laura, is don't dwell on this to the point of imagining things that may not be true of him.

You may be wrong. The longer you brood over it, the more the devil will use it to sow seeds of distrust and anger. Speak to him, yes, and then pray for him and hand him over to God. God holds you accountable for your responses, not his sins. And fourth, find your deepest joy in God's presence and promises.

He delights in the inner beauty of your faith and fearlessness and humility and quiet peacefulness. And God gives himself to you for your fellowship and your enjoyment. Fear not for I am with you. I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you. In my presence is fullness of joy.

At my right hand are pleasures forevermore. And the last thing I would say is give your husband as much joy as you can every day, and know, as Paul writes in another context, but I think it applies, that in doing so, in serving your husband, you are serving your heavenly husband who is infinitely worthy, even when your earthly husband at any given moment may not be.

- Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you, Laura, for reaching out and sending the email question into us. This podcast really benefits from well-articulated and honest questions like this one from Laura, so please keep emailing them into us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. Due to the volume of emails, we simply cannot respond to each of them, but we do read them and we get them, so thank you.

And I should note that if you request that your name remain anonymous, we always respect that request. Two other related episodes in this podcast series include episode number 149, My Husband Likes Movies with Nudity, But I Hate It, and also episode number 368, Should Christians Watch Game of Thrones?

Well, we all know we should pray for things, but when should we stop praying for something? That's the question on the table tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast. I'm your host, Tony Ranke. We'll see you then. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)