We had tremendous services at our Church several weeks ago. The topic was “Conversations about sexuality.” I started to write this blog before these meetings. I’m glad I waited to finish this. It is wonderful that the Word of God addresses every issue in life. That God has the answers we need. This topic is a must-need topic. Sexual purity in today’s culture is an enormous challenge for Christians and even non-believers. There is a pornification of our culture—the onslaught of sexualisation of society. We are bombarded daily with sexual images in commercials, movies, social media, and on the internet. We have access like never before!
Sexual idolatry is prevalent and devastating. Sexual temptation is all around and is like a freight train barreling down the tracks heading right for us. I was exposed to pornography at a very young age. It was a sin and not just a moral problem throughout my life. It was a secret, it was hidden and never talked about. It became a stronghold of oppression through secrecy. The pain I caused my wife in our early years of marriage, I greatly regret, and I thank God for her love and forgiveness. Nothing is a secret with God. He knows and wants to bring healing and deliverance. He did for me! There were many battles in staying pure, mixed with victories, failures, and disappointments. Yet I’m grateful that through Christ, God did and has set me free. Do we still get tempted at times? Absolutely, but God makes a way to escape! God is our hope, refuge, and strength. His love and mercy are unfailing! His grace empowers us to overcome sexual immorality, not excuse it!
In our culture, sexual immorality is an acceptable form of behavior and entertainment. It is worshiped and glorified. If it is so great and pleasurable, why does it bring such shame, guilt, condemnation, disease, and even violence? Pornography and related so-called entertainment are a billion-dollar industry. Personal lives, marriages, and relationships are destroyed. Sexually transmitted diseases are rampant, along with many other consequences. There seems to be so much confusion. We have a Supreme Court judge who couldn’t define what a woman is. The issues of gender dysphoria, confusion over a person’s sex, whether they are a man or a women, is a current issue in politics and our culture. Especially the issue of biological men who assert they are women playing in girls’ sports. “The estimated number of transgender individuals in the United States is approximately 1.6 million. An estimated 150,000 youth aged 13-17 identify as transgender.” About 0.6% of U.S. adults identify as transgender.” The LGBTQ movement needs to know that God loves them! We are not the judge and jury. Jesus came to save and not condemn( John 3:16-18). He loves the sinner, which we all were at one time, but He hates the sin. “History has proven that once you remove God and moral absolutes from any society, death, destruction, and human suffering aren’t far behind. Sheriff, Duane. Counterculture.” “The glue that holds our government and society together is anchored in these moral absolutes,” Sheriff Duane. Counterculture” Sin is missing the mark of what God desires for our lives, and that includes sexual purity. We must remember it is not a particular sin that seals our fate for eternity with or without God, it is the sin of rejecting Christ. John 14:6 (NKJV)-6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. As Christians, we need to bring light into the darkness. We need to address these issues in our Churches and culture. To move with mercy, compassion, and share the good News of the Gospel of Grace to all those who struggle with sexual purity. We need to speak the truth in love and not with hate( Eph. 4:15). Through my battles, over the years, and even as a Christian, my deliverance and freedom came through Christ, the living Word!
Satan and his demons want access to your mind and your body, and it’s not for your good. He wants to ruin your testimony, cause shame, guilt, and condemnation. John 10:10-Jesus said He is a thief. He wants to kill. steal and destroy. He blinds people to sexual immorality and its consequences. The Bible calls it seducing or deceiving demonic spirits(1 Tim. 4:1). Sexual temptation is very strong, and these temptations must be handled with the Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and a disciplined life. Yet temptation can get the best of us, and we can give in to natural desires in an ungodly way. We are tempted to go outside of marriage or singleness to fulfill sexual desires. Adultery and fornication are sinful behaviors that hurt the heart of God. The Bible has a lot to say about sexual purity and how to walk in holiness. God is not against sex. He created sex for procreation and pleasure between husband and wife. Sex is beautiful in its God-given boundaries. Satan is the one who has perverted the sanctity of sex and has lied to us. He only desires bondage and oppression( Acts 10:38, Acts 26:18).
Let’s look at some scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:13 (NKJV)-13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. The desire for food and sexual fulfillment is very strong. The attitude is, “I will eat what I want and as much as I want. I will have sex when I want and with whomever I want. I will seek to satisfy these desires because I’m only human.” God created us with the desire for food and sex, and created boundaries for them as well. Many depend on food and sex to fulfill emotional needs. “I’ve got to have it. It makes me feel good.” Yet we always feel shame, guilt, and condemnation after the fact. Whether it’s self sex(masturbation) or with someone else. That right there tells us something’s not right. Only Jesus can satisfy and fill the troubled soul. We need to exercise self-control when it comes to food and sex. We can’t live without food, but we can live without sex if we have to. Even if we are single and not married. Married couple, according to Apostle Paul, tells us that we should not withhold sex from our marriage partner, lest our prayers be hindered and not have Satan take advantage of our desires through the lack of self control ( 1 Cor.7:3-5, 1 Peter 3:7). This is referring to the husband and wife, male and female. When we are stressed, lonely, anxious, or depressed, we tend to overeat or lust and fantasize to medicate ourselves. This sexual idolatry is a false intimacy. God created us for intimacy with Him, to know Him personally. Those who struggle with sexual immorality have an intimacy issue. We all long for acceptance, approval, a sense of belonging, and to have a God given purpose. Only God can fulfill every need in our lives!
The body is not for sexual immorality because God knows the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, the emotional pain and trauma that take place. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. The Apostle Paul tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we need to flee sexual immorality( 1 Cor 6:18-20). That means any sexual activity outside of a marriage union. Our bodies belong to the Lord. We are bought with a price. To glorify God with our bodies. Satan wants to push us outside of God’s boundaries and make us feel like we are missing something. Here is a great quote I read: “Why does a nation abandon the traditional moral values that the founders believed were integral to our survival? Because relativism feels good. Because sex without consequences is easier. Because self-control takes self-sacrifice.” Relativism, humanism, secularism, liberalism, and tolerance have planted their seeds. It can soil a biblical Christ-centered worldview. It has elevated man above God, feelings above moral absolutes, and me above others. No wonder we struggle with what is unacceptable and acceptable. We walk the grey line of obscurity. Only God can make the crooked way straight. Only a personal relationship with God and His Word can transform our lives (Rom 12:1-2). For the sake of our children and future generations, this is so vital! Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.“ It’s the truth, you know. Not some abstract truth, not subjective truth, but real biblical life-saving truth.
1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)-15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Apostle John is talking about the world’s system. It’s culture and Ideologies. The moral versus the immoral. Good versus evil. The lust of the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life are always with us, tempting us and pulling us away from God. We can pursue these or pursue God. The daily choice is ours. Some say God is out to spoil our fun, our pleasures, and gratifications. No, a thousand times no. He wants to save us and protect us from the dangers of sexual immorality. My wife had a dear friend who struggled with homosexuality. He came to Christ and was delivered, yet through some difficult situations and his mom committing adultery, he fell back into that lifestyle. He contracted HIV and full-blown Aids and died a young man. My wife was heartbroken.
We need a revolution of sexual purity, and what I mean by that is not a legalistic and puritanical subjection to man’s rules and regulations. I’m talking about the freedom to express healthy sexuality and joy in the confines of marriage between a husband(male) and a wife (female) that God has created( Gen. 1:27, Gen. 5:2, Matt. 19:4-7). We also need to be aware of Satan’s strategies. That there is a spiritual warfare taking place. We cannot not be ignorant of his devices! ( 2 Cor. 2:11, Eph. 6:12). He wants to pollute our minds, undermine our morals, distract, and destroy our lives. The bottom line is that we can become very selfish and self-centered when we fail to walk in God’s way. This causes all sorts of grief and confusion. That I have a right to these desires, even if it’s in unhealthy ways. The flesh wants what the flesh wants. Apostle Paul calls this carnality! ” We tell ourselves, ‘I can’t control these desires.”
We need to realize, as Christians, that God has the answers. He has given us His Spirit and the grace to overcome. You can because you have the life of God on the inside of you. You have the fruit of the Spirit ( Gal 5:22-23). You’re not trying to improve the flesh life, but learning not to let the flesh dominate you. It always wants to be number one. We as Christians are to crucify the flesh through walking in the Spirit, that means walking in the love of God( Gal.5:16). We identify with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. To walk in the newness of life. (Rom 6:4). We need to discipline ourselves with what we watch and listen to. We can’t be tempted by what we don’t think about and meditate upon. The conception of sinful desires will never happen if we don’t go there in our thoughts and imagination( Rom. 8:5-6, James 1:14-15, Phil. 4:8). We need to submit to God, His Word, and His Spirit, and resist the Devil( James 4:7). The way we surrender our lives is to deny any thoughts, emotions, or actions that are contrary to the Word of God.
In closing, there is hope for all who struggle with sexual purity! The sense of hopelessness, failure, and disappointment can be overwhelming. Psalm 42:5 (NKJV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. God is a God of hope for us today! Romans 15:13 (NKJV)-13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to believe that God, His Word, and His truth have set us free( John 8:32, John 8:36). For singles and married couples, sexual purity is possible because God promises it. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally healthy people(3 John 2)! When we are hurting, empty, unfulfilled, lacking true intimacy, and in need of acceptance and approval, we look for love in all the wrong places. The best place is in the loving arms of our heavenly Father! Today, rededicate your life and body to God afresh and experience His love and freedom in Christ!
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 (AMP)
3 For this is the will of God, that you should be consecrated (separated and set apart for pure and holy living): that you should abstain and shrink from all sexual vice, 4 That each one of you should know how to possess (control, manage) his own body in consecration (purity, separated from things profane) and honor, 5 Not [to be used] in the passion of lust like the heathen, who are ignorant of the true God and have no knowledge of His will,
In Christ’s love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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