Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
Week 8: Chapter 7 — Polluted Rivers
Read Chapter 7 of Sacred Marriage. Key passages: Proverbs 5:15–18; Matthew 5:27–28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5.
Want the full guide for Sacred Marriage?
Free Week 1 sample in 5 min · $24.99 for all 13 weeks · 7-day refund
Thomas now addresses what happens when sexuality is misdirected — through lust, fantasy, emotional affairs, or pornography — and how guarding the "river" of marital intimacy is a serious act of spiritual warfare.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Thomas uses the image of a river to describe marital sexuality — clean, life-giving, and bounded — and a polluted river to describe what happens when lust or unfaithfulness enters. What specific things "pollute the river" in the context he describes, and why does he treat them with such seriousness?
2.He addresses lust not merely as a moral failure but as a spiritual one — an act that fractures the soul's capacity for the very intimacy it craves. How does that framing help you understand why Jesus treated lust so seriously in Matthew 5?
3.Thomas discusses the subtle danger of emotional affairs — the ways we can invest emotional energy and intimacy in someone other than our spouse, long before any physical line is crossed. Where might the lines between appropriate friendship and emotionally adulterous investment be blurry in your own life?
You're on Week 8 of 13
Don't lose momentum — get the rest of Sacred Marriage
All 92 questions across 13 weeks, with closing prayers and a downloadable PDF for your group.
One-time purchase · 7-day refund · Covers your whole group