In what ways do you think Americans typically mistreat their bodies?
What about Christian Americans, are they guilty too? You bet they are!
There are hosts of ways that we are abusing our bodies every day... I
think you would all agree with me that one of the ways many people abuse
their bodies is with sexual immorality. People actually think that because
sex is a normal physical function, it should be used as they please! This
is one of the arguments that are used to defend their sensuality. In your
opinion, what are the biggest challenges to sexual purity in our society?
Unfortunately, in movies and on television, sex outside marriage is treated
as a normal, even desirable part of life, while marriage is often shown
as confining, joyless and boring. Before you hit that delete button, let's
take an honest look at this topic today in light of 1 Corinthians chapter
6 beginning with verse 12-13....
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things
are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats
for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it
and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the
Lord for the body.
What did the apostle Paul mean when he said he would not be brought under
the power of any? He meant that he would live by the principle of self-control.
Yes, all things are lawful for us, but we haven't been set free to enter
into a new kind of bondage. You see, the apostle Paul knew that certain
forms of indulgence become wrong when they bring the person into bondage.
One of the character qualities of a Christian should be self-control.
(Gal. 5:22-23) How's yours doing these days, dear lady? The Bible says
here that our bodies were not designed for fornication (sexual uncleanness),
but for the Lord. How many of God's children are truly using their bodies
wholeheartedly for their Savior? How many are in bondage to sexual sins,
using their bodies for the sole purpose of physical pleasure.... Have
you considered God in this matter? Have you considered in these two verses
above that the Lord is clearly placing value on our bodies? What makes
them so special to the Lord? Let's look down at verses 15-17 which says:
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take
the members of Christ, and make them members of an harlot? God forbid.
What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for
two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord
is one spirit.
If we're saved, our bodies are now members of Christ, God's beloved Son.
They have been set apart for a special purpose and work. The Lord has
a special plan for our bodies; after all, He created them! What makes
us Christians think we can just use our bodies that are joined to the
Lord for fulfilling our out-of-control appetites, our sinful purposes??
Those who are in bondage to sexual sins must consider whether or not their
inappropriate sexual activities are really profiting their spiritual lives!
Is God happy with what you are joining your body to?? Is He really happy
with your inappropriate sexual behavior? Just because we have certain
normal desires given by God at creation does not mean that we are to give
in to them and always satisfy them! Sex is not just another human appetite
to be satisfied, it is a gift to be cherished and used according to the
Lord who designed it. Sexual sin is both powerful and destructive. The
apostle Paul, in Colossians 3:5-6, recognizes the importance of strong
rules about sex for believers, because sexual sins have the power to disrupt
and even destroy the church...
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry: For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the
children of disobedience.
Ladies, sins involving sex are not innocent dabblings in forbidden pleasures,
as is so often portrayed by the world, but rather powerful destroyers
of relationships! They bring confusion, hurt, and tear down the healthy
climate of respect, trust, and credibility so essential for solid, intimate
marriages and secure children. Spouses are devastated. Children are scarred.
The partners themselves, even if they escape disease and unwanted pregnancy,
lose their ability to fulfill normal commitments, to feel sexual desire,
to trust, and to be entirely open with another person. What begins with
a desire ends in a tragedy.... Sex outside marriage always hurts somebody!
We must wisely regard lust as a
warning sign of impending danger ahead. When you notice that you are attracted
to a person of the opposite sex or preoccupied with thoughts of him, your
desires may lead you to sin. Ask God to help you change your desires before
you are drawn away....
James 1:14-16
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it
is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Did you notice the wording in verse 14 of "drawn away"? That doesn't sound
like something that happens quickly, does it? That to me sounds like the
slow, subtle process of temptation that takes place quietly and secretly.
Then all of a sudden before you know it, you're trapped - hook, line,
and sinker, and you can't get away from fulfilling your desires - from
sexual abuse, literally abusing God's plan for sex. Lust leads to error.
But one thing that is never considered until it's too late is the consequences...
God lovingly wants to protect us from damaging others and ourselves with
improper sexual behavior! But He does not forbid sexual sin just to be
difficult. He knows its power to destroy us physically and spiritually.
We can only keep ourselves from erring in this way by staying within God's
limits and design for sexual expression…
Proverbs 5:15-17
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine
own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters
in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers with thee.
Ladies, we must understand that sex is a gift God gives to married people
for their mutual enjoyment, it is not another chore to have to carry out!
God does not intend faithfulness in marriage to be boring, lifeless, pleasureless,
and dull! Sexual intimacy between husband and wife is likened here to
running waters, not a stagnate pond; rivers of waters as a powerful flood
flowing through the streets; a fountain of water bubbling with energy,
not just a tiny trickle of water escaping from the faucet every now and
then! Hence, real happiness comes when we decide to find pleasure in the
relationship God has given (or will give you) and to commit ourselves
to making it pleasurable for our spouses. The real danger is in doubting
that God knows and cares for us. We then may resent His timing and carelessly
pursue sexual pleasure with strangers as the Bible defines them, without
God's blessing, as so many Christians have done today.
In closing, remember that sexuality is a natural, God-given desire. Sexual
temptations are difficult to withstand because they appeal to the normal
and natural desires that God has given us. Remember, what God values,
Satan seeks to destroy.... Marriage provides God's perfect way to satisfy
these natural sexual desires and to strengthen husband and wife against
temptation and the wiles of the devil. Married couples have this special
responsibility to care for each other in this way. I hope you are being
a wise steward of the sexual intimacy your marriage affords you! Much
of the sexual turmoil that enters into the church could be avoided if
this truth were better understood…
1 Corinthians 7:2-3
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and
let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the
wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
It's clear that God planned that husbands and wives should not withhold
themselves sexually from one another, but should willingly and actively
fulfill each other's needs and desires. God, as the creator of sex, ought
to be our trusted guide in the use of sexuality. Spiritually, our body
belongs to God when we become a Christian, but physically, our body belongs
to our spouse because God designed marriage so that, through the union
of husband and wife, the two should become one flesh (Gen. 2:24).
In closing, if the media in any way is encouraging in you a wrong attitude
about your body - stay away from it! If friends, co-workers, family members
or other peers encourage you in wrong attitudes about the body, stay away
from them too! If your computer is an avenue for sexual impurity, stay
away from it as well... There are specific ways that we are to honor God
with our bodies and those that don't contribute to the right way of thinking
ought to be quickly forsaken! We need to master our natural human desires
that ungoverned can lead us to sinning against our bodies and avoid such
abuse. The Lord is for the body, and the body is for the Lord!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2002
