Profound Mystery: Marriage Lessons from EphesiansSample

Sexual Purity

My surgery was relatively minor. But I was surprised by the number of medical personnel in the room and the complexity of the equipment. 

There are many factors which determine if surgery will be successful or not. It takes careful planning, execution, a sterile environment, and good follow-up care. Yet even with the most diligent and skilled teams at work, post-operative complications can occur. One of the most dangerous is an infection.

When the doctors were done, they explained how a single wayward bacteria could take root and wreak havoc. They explained how my bandages would protect me if I kept them clean. They didn’t want a hint of bacteria anywhere near my wound.

The apostle Paul may not have known about bacteria, but he understood how easy it is for sexual sin to take root in our lives. He warned against even a whisper of sexual immorality. This goes far beyond the idea of simply not committing adultery. It actually starts with guarding our minds. 

Many Christians are much more careful about what they do than about what they think. Some bring a pornography habit into their marriages, wrongly believing that thoughts can be compartmentalized—that they can look at pornography without any effect on their minds or relationships. Others don’t think twice about watching sexually-charged reality television shows or movies. Yet each image, each storyline, is like rubbing bacteria into an open wound.

We don’t need to have a physical affair to cheat on our spouse. Jesus said, “… everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

As our culture has become more sexually permissive, maintaining one’s purity has become more difficult. I have learned there are certain mainstream shows I cannot allow myself to watch and certain channels I cannot allow myself to have on my cable lineup. A single image or scene can easily affect my mind if I’m not careful.

With all the sexually charged images around us, it can be tempting to lower our standards, but the stakes are too high to ignore. 

Sexual impurity interferes with marital intimacy. It wastes your time teaching you what the person on the screen finds pleasurable, instead of encouraging you to spend that time and energy getting to know your spouse better. Before you know it, you wind up wanting the fantasy more than your reality. 

Like the doctors protecting their patient from a life-threatening infection, we must put in place as many barriers as it takes to ensure our marriages stay pure.

Pray: Lord, I want my marriage to be as pure as it can be. I confess that I have not always protected it from invasive sexual images and thoughts. Help me to safeguard the purity of our marriage so that it can be glorifying to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For more on this topic listen to, “Poisoning Marital Intimacy” on FamilyLifeToday.com.