How To Fight Sexual Immorality - 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Title: The Temptation of Sir Percival
Artist: Arthur Hacker
Date: c.1894
This weekend at The Rock, we are speaking about one of the most challenging but one of my favorite subjects to talk about: Lust, temptation, and sex.
I love talking about this subject and others similar to it because of the difficult challenge of the awkwardness of it. Naturally, people like to dance around this topic because they can be uncomfortable. However, we are in a world completely driven by sex and the influence of it. On top of that, this is something that Scripture talks about consistently.
After talking about this with our High Schoolers last night, I wanted to share a few extra thoughts on how we can fight through the temptation of being sexually immoral.
Here’s a scripture that teaches us a few things.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. [19] Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, [20] for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
With this Scripture, there are 3 key ideas that we can pull.
1. Run from sin
I love the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Joseph finds himself in a position where he can get into bed with a beautiful woman, but instead, he literally turns and runs away from the place where he can sin. We need to have that mentality more in life. Find yourself about to look at something on your phone you shouldn't? Throw it across the room. Oh, you're about to hook up with someone? Go sit on the couch with your family. Are you about to slide into someone's dm's at 2 am? Go to bed.
Drastic sins should provoke a drastic response in us. Don't allow yourself to play with the fire. Run away from it. As I said last night, flee from sin; don't flirt with it.
2. Realize your value
I don't think that we hold enough value or self-esteem in our life. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. God is living in us! Why are we treating that body like junk? I love what Romans 12:1 says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Just like our hearts, our bodies should be a beautiful sacrifice and home to the Lord. We should not be defiling it in any way. And yes, while this is a blog about sexual immorality, I think it applies to your physical health as well. We could probably all treat this temple better.
3. Return the investment.
God bought you for a high price, really the highest price of his blood. I want him to have a return on that investment. Some things will push me toward God, and there will be things that will pull me away from God. I need to always make the choice that honors God's belief that I am worth it.
Chasing His desires? Pushing me towards God.
Chasing my desires? Pulling me away.
Choosing His Word? Pushing me towards God.
Choosing the world? Pulling me away.
This applies to our conversation about sex as well.
Sex inside the confines of marriage? Absolutely pushing me towards God.
Anything other than that? Pulling me away.
Look, this is a complex subject, and there are a lot of different ways to fight against sexual immorality.
While prayer and accountability will always be essential, these were just a few thoughts pulled from a scripture I read last night.
Run from it.
Realize it.
Return it.
About the Artwork
Title: The Temptation of Sir Percival
Artist: Arthur Hacker
Date: 1894
Where is this at: Leeds Art Gallery, England
Fun Fact: Sir Percival is known for being a part of “King Arthur’s Knights”