Strive to be sexually pure

Strive to be sexually pure 

 

 “AVOID SEXUAL IMMORALITY.” 1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-4 NIV

Be grateful that God made you a sexual being. Sex wasn’t a mistake He made when He ran out of ideas. When Adam first saw Eve he didn’t say ‘I’ll bet she’s got a wonderful personality!’ No, he said, “This is … flesh of my flesh” (Ge 2:23). But when we don’t understand God’s original intent for sex, bad stuff happens. God doesn’t want to destroy our ability to experience our sexuality. No, He wants to teach us how to enjoy it.

Saying ‘I’m reserving sex for marriage’ may raise eyebrows and may get you excluded from the guest list of some parties. So be it! When there’s physical intimacy without true commitment, count on it; somebody’s going to get hurt. You need to resolve in your heart to read God’s Word and follow His directives on the subject. And you need to do it now, before you get into situations where you’re tempted to compromise your character, because then you’ve waited too late.

We all struggle at times with our sexuality, particularly in today’s culture. Sex is such a deep part of us. And guilt about sex has a way of making us feel separated from God like nothing else. So in order to determine your values and set some ground rules, you need to vow before God, ‘I’m not going to allow my impulses to dictate to me, or sin to separate me from You. I choose to keep Your standards, to rely on Your Spirit to give me strength day by day. And if I do sin, to seek Your forgiveness, get back up and move closer to You.’ Count on it – that’s a prayer God will answer!