2005-06-10
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
I’m led to continue writing on the subject of sexual immorality. As you know, the Holy Spirit took us all on a trip through some of the main citations on this difficult subject in the last few weeks. This was to prepare us for dealing with consequences, initially unseen or ignored in the passion of illicit fornication (sex without marriage) or adultery (sex outside of marriage). More often than not when adultery happens, it is a result of a marriage formalized for the wrong reasons, without having taken the needed time for the partners to get to know each other, immaturity, the absence of God’s Partnership in the marriage, fraud, or serious communication problems. Whatever the reason, both partners to the marriage suffer greatly as a result of the adultery. We have seen this in the story of David’s relationship with Bathsheba, for example. Not only did they lose the baby that resulted from their affair, but David is riddled with guilt when the prophet, Nathan, confronts him with the wrongfulness of his conduct [1 SAM 11: 1-1SAM 12: 22].
The act of adultery is always followed with negative consequences to the spouse wronged and the spouse committing it, who loses a sense of self-worth when he is forced to confront what he has done. Many people don’t know that 80 % of uncommitted relationships fail in today’s society. None of this behavior pleases God, as is evidenced by His will stated through Paul in EPH 5: 21-28. EPH 4: 25 also supports this point. “No more lying, then! Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ.” We already know that Christ has stated emphatically in MT 5: 27, “Do not commit adultery. And in MT 5: 31, “It is said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her written notice of divorce.’” If a spouse is unhappy enough to want to leave a marriage, there is an honorable way to do that, and it should be done before entering into another relationship. Christ goes on to stay, in MT 5: 32, “But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife even through she has not been unfaithful, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her also commits adultery.” This statement is clearly to get the marital partner with a straying eye to think twice before refusing to work on whatever the problems are in his/her marriage and walking out on it. Our problem today is that this person rarely cares what the consequences are before walking out on either his spouse or their children.
I have counseled with many a person riddled with guilt or self-doubts who has been left by an unbelieving spouse or who has wasted years of his/her life in an uncommitted relationship that has finally come to an end. Maybe it sounds trite to say this, but we are only young once. People lose a sense of self-worth when they sell themselves short enough to lose their years of vitality and potential productiveness by giving in to a second best (uncommitted) relationship as a result of fornication. And yet, this is very common in today’s society. Hollywood thinks nothing of this and considers it an acceptable alternative to marriage and stable family life. I haven’t even mentioned the horrific toll that all of this has on children that come out of either fornication or adulterous unions. The children are the real losers, because they grow up in such emotional instability that they can’t form a sense of self-worth. Many of them grow up to repeat the mistake of their parents. Christ’s attitude about little children is made clear by His statement in MK 10: 14b-15, “Let the children come to Me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” The responsibility for stopping the breakdown of the family unit rests entirely on the shoulders of those who in their selfishness and sexual passion don’t consider the long-term earthly and eternal consequences of their actions.
Hollywood’s lack of morality certainly plays a part in this, but it is not the entire cause. EPH 6: 12 reveals the mechanism that Satan uses to bring about immorality. “For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” While it may sound harsh to say this, RO 1: 18-20 lays the truth as to why mankind has no excuse for immoral behavior on the line. “God’s anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God Himself made it plain. Ever since God created the world, His invisible qualities, both His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse.” Think about it; we are born with a God-consciousness and with the ability to perceive all that He has created. God hasn’t left us in suspense about how much He values the family unit and a righteous lifestyle. God has created us with the ability to make choices that are in keeping with His teaching.
PRAYER: O Lord, every teaching that You give us in the Scriptures and that you pass along in answer to our prayers is designed to bring us closer to You. We see Your ultimate goodness and love for us in them when our hearts are open to You. The devil hates this and does whatever he can to interrupt good communication between You and us. Sadly, he takes what is a normal human trait, sexuality, to uses it as one of his weapons of evil when a person ignores your teaching or refuses to expose himself to it in the first place. Temptation is one of the devil’s favorite weapons, and we become vulnerable to it when we don’t spend daily time with You. David understood our need for You in our lives when You inspired him to write, in PS 31: 1-5, “I come to You, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray! Hear me! Save me now! Be my Refuge to protect me; my Defense to save me. You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from anger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” We pray that same prayer, acknowledging our own need for Your protection, guidance, and help in our lives. We dedicate ourselves to acknowledging our spiritual and moral poverty without You in our daily lives and to following Your teaching. We profess our belief in You, Your Son, and the Holy Spirit, knowing we can overcome temptation by making the choices You have taught us to make. We know that through Christ, You have empowered us and authorized us to use that power in battle against the devil in His name. We acknowledge that You have given each of us the equipment to do that battle to victory in His name [EPH 1: 18-20 and EPH 6: 10-18]. We stand before Your throne today to offer You thanks and praise for Your very presence in our lives. We express our heartfelt love and faith in You today and always. In Christ’s strong and victorious name, Amen.
Next week, I’m led to deal with punishment of sex offenders and Christ’s teaching on dealing with normal sex drives. I admit, it’s not pleasurable for me as a writer or for you as a reader to have to spend so much time on the subject of sexual immorality. But the Holy Spirit observes the condition of today’s society and insists that I cover this, just as I do other subjects that aren’t easy. So, I ask you not to get angry or frustrated, but instead to listen to God on this difficult subject as I am trying to do, so that we don’t have to suffer the consequences of not doing so. A loving and responsible parent takes no pleasure in having to allow his child to suffer negative consequences from actions taken against parental advice. Our loving Abba feels the same way about us when we ignore His teaching. And yet, the consequences to a person and/or his children of not being a responsible parent are unacceptable. God made His will for parents and others in authority known in EZK 33: 6, “If, however, the watchman sees the enemy coming and does not sound the alarm, the enemy will come and kill those sinners, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their death.” And, this doesn’t even take into account the countless innocent children whose lives are ruined and who end up going to spiritual death. Our God loves each of us so very much that His greatest desire is for as many as possible of us who will listen to be brought back to Him for an eternal life of blissful fellowship with each other and with Him [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. We must remember that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us, so that we could be saved. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn