Articles and Blogs
If the numbers for pornography use and sexual sin are anywhere close to reality then the church has been in the “loss column” for years. Businesses know there is an acceptable level of losses during a fiscal year when they can see an upward trend in profits. What is the acceptable level of loss regarding sexual sin?
Compromise is the subtle practice of ever so slightly moving God’s boundaries. If it were a grand and obvious act of initial rebellion we might perceive the path before us. Instead we gradually compromise and permit sexual temptations to encamp and eventually move into our lives. Compromise does not beget nor produce integrity. Compromise produces more compromise and the next generation continues where we left off and before long we have completely forsaken God’s precepts.
You see whatever you “stash” away in your heart, you will protect and whatever you protect in your heart will consume you. For most of our hidden heart treasures these dangers are not as evident and are often masked through the deceptions of our culture. This is never more evident than with the use of pornography.
You may be in a place of double-mindedness and realize the stress of these trials has left you shaky. The uncertainty of trying to serve the master of sexual sin and the Lord have left you shame and guilt filled. Before, there were brief interludes into the fantasy world of pornography where you believed you had control. The stress and uncertainty of today, however, have now accelerated its progression and frequency. The delusion of believing you were in control of the fantasy world has vanished and been replaced with despair and hopelessness. You realize your inability to cope with the stress of life before had only trained you to escape and medicate your discomfort. If you find yourself in this place, it is not too late because our God is the God of true hope and His hope doesn’t disappoint.
When our pain is minimized or maximized, then Satan lies in wait to sell us the quick fix and instant feel good escape of the fantasy world of sexual sin. We either learn to escape, medicate and avoid our pain or we learn to walk through it and grow in our faith and trust in the One who bore this pain upon the cross.
I have thought about his statement through the years and realize this is how most Christians live out their lives. We justify and minimize our favorite sin while comparing it to more “serious” sins. We compartmentalize it away from the process of sanctification and avoid scripture that makes us uncomfortable. We preform works based mathematics to balance the books and minimize our shame and guilt.
