"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" - Matthew 18:6-7
Jesus said it's better to die than to tempt someone. Hardcore.
The subject of sexual purity has been on my mind recently, partly because it is my ongoing struggle. Sex is such a powerful thing -- the Almighty Creator designed it so to glue two people together for life -- that the consequences of playing with it can be frightening. Unfortunately, we live in a society which is immersed in the powerful lies of illicit sex. People breathe in sexual immorality everyday -- in media, in workplaces, in schools -- and not realize that toxic gas actually suffocates them. They drink up sewage water, and not realize that they will never quench their thirst with it. They do not realize that meaningless, mechanical forms of sex will only frustrate more. They do not know that satisfying lust will only magnify it. They live on like that, believing the lie that it couldn't be better. It is tragic.
As for myself, it is interesting (and frustrating, I gotta admit) how the battle never ends. What I shamefully know is that I have compromised purity in thought or in action in the past, that in so doing have stolen something precious and God-given from my future marriage, and that I will never know what joy it could have been.
And yet I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord, because no matter how frequently or how greatly I have fallen in the past, today is still a new day to guard and to protect the sanctity of Christian marriage. A thousand times I have failed; still His mercy remains.
By the grace of God may you avoid every treacherous imitation of eternal fulfillment, every enemy of lasting joy today.
That first verse is just awesome. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the post though - it's quite sad thinking of how many people are harmed in the area of sexual purity every day. I appreciate your post on this topic partly because it's something that's so prevalent yet still something that many Christians don't see how terrible of a sin it is and what consequences it causes. And you ended on a message of hope...thanks. :) So good to know that no matter how many times we fail...His grace is yet deeper and wider and longer and higher!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Dream. :)
Amen. It really is tragic that so many in this world, even we Christians sometimes, seek after such a destructive god as lust.
ReplyDeleteGod protect us, indeed!