Not Even A Click
“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.”—Ephesians 5:3 (NIV)
We are sexual beings. God has made us that way. It’s a fabulous gift from God that is to be cherished within the confines of God-ordained marriage between a man and a woman. It’s a great source of love and enjoyment between a husband and wife, but sex outside of God’s established parameters of marriage is like taking a log out of the safety and comfort of the hearth—and then the house burns to the ground.
Sex is everywhere in our world today. There’s no place where sex or some perverted form of it is not available. The Internet has made information available like never before, but with all of the blessings came many of the burdens. Sin became available with the click of a mouse key, and where once men and women had to cross to the seedy side of town, now illicit material is made available in the privacy of one’s home where the eyes and heart are ready to believe the lies and indulge fleeting pleasures. Pornography is the distortion of God’s gift of sex. It enslaves the individual and always demands more. It is a bottomless pit that can never be given enough and promises the world, but gives nothing but heartache, alienation, mistrust, and self-loathing. Pornography captures the holiest of believers who are not on guard against it. It takes a great deal of familiarity with the Word of God, one’s own tendencies, cycles and proclivities, not to mention accountability, in order to counteract porn’s warfare against the soul. I have found that the only way to avoid porn is to do what this passage from Ephesians speaks about, that there “must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” “Not even a hint.” I have often pondered what that means. And I have concluded that for those of us in cyberspace it means “not even a click.”
Porn, like every sin, starts because our God-given desires are marred by the fall. We have a fallen sinful nature that leads us astray. As James wrote, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”—James 1:14-15 (ESV). Our own corrupted desires start to lead us down the path to sin. And we must be aware of what they are, and determine not to go anywhere near them. And how do we do this? Through accountability, but it’s mainly through self-control, one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23).
When we placed our faith in Christ, we died to sin through His death. We were crucified with Him and given His Holy Spirit who enables us to live a holy life. He brings to our hearts or consciences the awareness of what causes or leads us down the road of sin. And for those who struggle with porn, it’s not even a click. Sin starts in the mind. And the mind deceptively says that it’s ok to flirt with sin. It never starts off bad. It starts off quite innocently. A news article here, a headline there, which leads to an inquiry about a person on Wikipedia, or we Google them in order to find out more. But sin is just beginning to lay the trap, and each click takes us further into the jaws of death. It wants more and continues to lead us down the path as we lie to ourselves, more and more. Each lie leads us further away from God and further along the downward spiral of disobedience and before we know it, we have wasted precious time sinning against God, drinking from dirty cesspools of sin, rather than the pure water of the Word of God. My brothers and sisters, this must not be! We cannot continue down this path! I know as I write this, some of you are heartbroken. You have been captured by the enemy. You are a prisoner of the fleeting pleasure of porn that clings to your soul.
But as with any sin—there’s hope! It’s not an easy journey and it takes time, but there is freedom in Christ—and that is for another Toolshed. But for today, my words are to the people of God. We have the Holy Spirit within us that enables us to have self-control. We can be free, and it begins with the understanding that I will not even click my way to sin. Say to yourself: By Gods grace, I won’t go to anyplace that will even begin to lead me to sin. I am not just saying that we should avoid porn, but everything that leads to porn, and that means “not even a hint,” “not even a click.” Defeating sin is hard, but we also must realize that we are not alone in our battle. Enlist other brothers and sisters along the way to help you resist the sin that so easily entangles. And let us bond together, lifting up one another to the throne of grace so that we might all say with wholehearted confidence that there will not even be one “click” of sin to entangle us, and may we do it to His honor, glory and praise, both now and forevermore. Amen.
We are sexual beings. God has made us that way. It’s a fabulous gift from God that is to be cherished within the confines of God-ordained marriage between a man and a woman. It’s a great source of love and enjoyment between a husband and wife, but sex outside of God’s established parameters of marriage is like taking a log out of the safety and comfort of the hearth—and then the house burns to the ground.
Sex is everywhere in our world today. There’s no place where sex or some perverted form of it is not available. The Internet has made information available like never before, but with all of the blessings came many of the burdens. Sin became available with the click of a mouse key, and where once men and women had to cross to the seedy side of town, now illicit material is made available in the privacy of one’s home where the eyes and heart are ready to believe the lies and indulge fleeting pleasures. Pornography is the distortion of God’s gift of sex. It enslaves the individual and always demands more. It is a bottomless pit that can never be given enough and promises the world, but gives nothing but heartache, alienation, mistrust, and self-loathing. Pornography captures the holiest of believers who are not on guard against it. It takes a great deal of familiarity with the Word of God, one’s own tendencies, cycles and proclivities, not to mention accountability, in order to counteract porn’s warfare against the soul. I have found that the only way to avoid porn is to do what this passage from Ephesians speaks about, that there “must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” “Not even a hint.” I have often pondered what that means. And I have concluded that for those of us in cyberspace it means “not even a click.”
Porn, like every sin, starts because our God-given desires are marred by the fall. We have a fallen sinful nature that leads us astray. As James wrote, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”—James 1:14-15 (ESV). Our own corrupted desires start to lead us down the path to sin. And we must be aware of what they are, and determine not to go anywhere near them. And how do we do this? Through accountability, but it’s mainly through self-control, one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23).
When we placed our faith in Christ, we died to sin through His death. We were crucified with Him and given His Holy Spirit who enables us to live a holy life. He brings to our hearts or consciences the awareness of what causes or leads us down the road of sin. And for those who struggle with porn, it’s not even a click. Sin starts in the mind. And the mind deceptively says that it’s ok to flirt with sin. It never starts off bad. It starts off quite innocently. A news article here, a headline there, which leads to an inquiry about a person on Wikipedia, or we Google them in order to find out more. But sin is just beginning to lay the trap, and each click takes us further into the jaws of death. It wants more and continues to lead us down the path as we lie to ourselves, more and more. Each lie leads us further away from God and further along the downward spiral of disobedience and before we know it, we have wasted precious time sinning against God, drinking from dirty cesspools of sin, rather than the pure water of the Word of God. My brothers and sisters, this must not be! We cannot continue down this path! I know as I write this, some of you are heartbroken. You have been captured by the enemy. You are a prisoner of the fleeting pleasure of porn that clings to your soul.
But as with any sin—there’s hope! It’s not an easy journey and it takes time, but there is freedom in Christ—and that is for another Toolshed. But for today, my words are to the people of God. We have the Holy Spirit within us that enables us to have self-control. We can be free, and it begins with the understanding that I will not even click my way to sin. Say to yourself: By Gods grace, I won’t go to anyplace that will even begin to lead me to sin. I am not just saying that we should avoid porn, but everything that leads to porn, and that means “not even a hint,” “not even a click.” Defeating sin is hard, but we also must realize that we are not alone in our battle. Enlist other brothers and sisters along the way to help you resist the sin that so easily entangles. And let us bond together, lifting up one another to the throne of grace so that we might all say with wholehearted confidence that there will not even be one “click” of sin to entangle us, and may we do it to His honor, glory and praise, both now and forevermore. Amen.
May I do nothing today in which I can not implore Your blessing, and in which I can not invite Your inspection.
ReplyDelete