Myth: Being a Christian and having a rich and rewarding sex life
are incompatible. Fact: It was God who created sex in first place
and it was God who created men and women as sexual beings. It is
his desire that we enjoy our sexuality.
Myth: Being a Christian and having a rich and rewarding sex life are incompatible. Fact: It was God who created sex in first place and it was God who created men and women as sexual beings. It is his desire that we enjoy our sexuality.
Sex is one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind, but far too many of us abuse this gift to the point of destroying ourselves and all our relationships. That’s why the Bible tells us, “God’s plan is to make you holy, and that means a clean cut with sexual immorality. Every one of you should learn to control his body, keeping it pure and treating it with respect, and never allowing it to fall victim to lust… You can not break this rule without cheating and exploiting others” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).
Because we are so powerfully drawn toward sex, we often view such statements as God throwing cold water on something we will enjoy. We think he does it for no good reason, but the truth of the matter is that when we have sex outside of God’s plan (marriage), we hurt others and ourselves as well.
One of the biggest lies perpetuated today is the notion that sex is “safe” if physical protection is used. But what I want to know is where one gets a condom that is big enough and tough enough to fit over the emotions that are damaged in the aftermath of an illicit sexual relationship. What company is making a condom that will safely cover the soul that is scarred by the spiritual trauma of violating God’s principles? Where is the protection for the relationship that is invariably changed forever once sex is brought in?
Some of us have found that sex outside of God’s plan is a dead-end road, but some of us are still on that big learning curve and looking for sex in all the wrong places. And some of us are just at the beginning of all this and still trying to determine which way to go in regards to our sexuality. We are wondering if we should go with the flow by following our glands and popular opinion, or if we should go against the tide by following God’s plan.
If you are inclined to at least consider the second option, you need to know up front that it will be a challenge. Fortunately, God is here to help you. The key to success is found in a brief statement Jesus makes in Matthew 26:41, “Keep watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Jesus says we need to do two things: Keep watch and pray. The prayer part is pretty simple to understand — you need to have honest talks with God on a regular basis, telling him about your struggles and asking him for strength and guidance. Realize that you will, at times, be blindsided by powerful temptations and must turn to God for deliverance.
When you do this, prayer will become a valuable ally. How this works can be illustrated in the story of a teenage boy who came to his pastor and confessed that he and his girlfriend were getting too carried away. At the end of each date they would find themselves parking the car in a secluded place and one thing was leading to another. “How can we stop?” he asked. The pastor offered a simple suggestion: “Next time you go parking, take your girlfriend’s hand and say, ‘Let’s pray together before we commit this immorality.'”
I can see how this would break the spell. But the other thing Jesus says you need to do is “keep watch.” What this means will take some time to explain and is too important to rush through. We will explore it in detail next week.
Henry Harris is Senior Pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church, 330 Tres Pinos Rd, Hollister, CA. If you have questions or comments, please visit the church’s web site at rollinghillsfamily.com, email pa*********@ro****************.com or phone 831-636-5353.
