“Micro-Cheating” and What Counts as Infidelity?

Today, a friend reached out to me and shared an article from Women’s Health magazine on “Microcheating” and what most couples consider to be a form of infidelity. As you can imagine, nearly everyone agrees that sex with someone other than your spouse is cheating, but this article pointed out a large “gray area” where people couldn’t seem to agree on what’s off limits and what’s not.

I certainly don’t see it as my job to referee everyone’s relationship, but as a pastor and marriage teacher, I feel a sense of responsibility to weigh in on these important issues. In my experiences with working with couples from all over the world and also researching what the Bible and modern research has to say about what makes a marriage work, I’m convinced that there are at least ten non-sexual forms of infidelity. 

The culture might refer to these as “micro-cheating” but I’d still just call it cheating. “Infidelity” just means broken trust and anytime you break your spouse’s trust it’s a form of infidelity whether sex was involved or not. Sexual affairs can certainly be the most devastating form of infidelity, but these ten forms of cheating can also be destructive. If ANY of these are happening (or being considered) in your marriage, please take immediate action before it’s too late!

Here are ten types of cheating that don’t involve sex (and how to avoid them all). Not all of these involve another person; some simply involve a failure of the vows you made to your spouse. All are different but all are potentially devastating to a marriage. In no particular order…