Sexual Integrity: Young Men Born for WARSample

"Winning Before You Start"

"Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me." - Psalm 144:1-2

We know that in Christ, we are more than victorious in that He ultimately has won the war of sin and death. For that, we are grateful. However, the battle over sexual sin can be won by you before it starts to rage and ravage your life in the decades to come.

We find the secret of winning this battle early in James 1:15,

“Then when lust has conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”

You see, lust is a seed, and we are the fancy dirt it can live and grow in like a parasite. Lust has three stages, and I have seen these stages play out over the lives of people for decades. The first stage is lust. You plant lust in your heart. Usually, you do this secretly with images or fantasies. All of which is readily available. Seeds need to be in the dark (dirt) and watered (continued viewing lustfully) to grow. The second stage is sin, where you act out the seed you have planted. The third stage is death, which can be anything from shame or separation you feel, all the way to infidelity, leading to a divorce and ruining all you built over the decades.

The way we win is at the first stage. Get a porn blocker for all your devices so it does not come to your eyes or your heart. Have accountability for all social media viewing to make it easier because all social media platforms have a very dark side that wants to trap you in lust.

I have had clients put a rubber band on one of their wrists, snap it, and quote a scripture to stop them from lustfully looking at others. Some clients pray for anyone they are tempted to lust after. Fight lust with the Word of God by memorizing Philippians 4:8.

“Finally brethren whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever are of good report: if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things.”

Questions:

1. Where does the first battle of the war start?

2. How would you like to fight lust?