Sexual Integrity: Young Men Born for WARSample

"Your Brain"

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Your brain is in the battle, for sure. I am not just talking about taking your thoughts captive and transforming your mind (Romans 1). I am talking about your actual brain, that grey mass between your ears.

We are so wonderfully and amazingly made. Our sexuality hugely includes our brains. When we have a sexual experience, be it with a real person or image, we experience the highest chemical reward in our brains. These endogenous opiates flood the prefrontal cortex of your brain. This part of your brain is not fully developed until your early twenties.

I remember when I was in Bible school and seminary, asking my professors to explain why sexual sin was different than all other sins. 1 Corinthians 6:18 teaches us:

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.”

When we engage our body in sexual behavior outside of marriage, these chemicals create a reward scenario in our body to desire to repeat this behavior. That is why it can seem so hard to fight this in the beginning. The more you repeat the behavior, the stronger the desire.

Having helped thousands of people from every age group get freedom, they also report that when you stop after a few months, your body is not fighting you nearly as much because you are not rewarding it to lust. The longer you are free, the easier it is from a biological perspective to stay free.

Questions:

1.What are your thoughts about your brain being in the battle?

2.What do you think about 1 Corinthians 6:18 now?