Proverbs 30:20 (ESV)
20 This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I have done no wrong.”
In contrast to the wonderful ways of the bird, the snake, the ship, and the man with his new bride, stands the adulteress. Although she’s married and has entered into a sacred covenant with her husband, she still engages in sexual activity with other men. The adulteress doesn’t care about the welfare of her targets or her own family. After she eats, or commits the sexual act, she wipes her mouth, hiding all evidence of her deed. Because her conscience is numb, she declares that she has done nothing wrong, reasoning that no one was “hurt” by her actions. Like the adulteress, we may rationalize our own sinful ways, insisting that because there are no clear victims, there’s no harm done. But all sin is destructive. Just as far- reaching ripples are created from a stone tossed into water, so sin generates destructive effects on the transgressor, her family, and her community. No one sins alone.