Dealing with the Temptation of Sexual Immorality

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Today’s Reading:

1 Corin 6:12-20 (20)

" All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful (beneficial). All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any”. “For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (vv.12;20)

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In our Christian living, temptation is a major battle we daily content with. And unfortunately, many people do not take this seriously, believing that to handle it is to yield to it. Others confess that it is one thing that they could not handle at all. It is true that we have choice as to what we do, but it is not everything that is helpful or healthy for our spiritual growth, if not we become slave to that which is destroying us (v. 12).

Temptation can be seen as any gate that leads to sin – bad habit that we cannot curtail, cheating, covetousness, lying, stealing, fornication, murder, gossiping and many more. Although we daily fight temptation but on occasions, we fall in the struggle. And temptation to sexual sin is no exception.

Without discipline and discernment through obedience to Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit, freedom from law will lead to slavery to sin. One of the growing problems confronting the church today is the increase in sexual immorality. As in Corinth, many today argue that illicit sex (adultery and fornication) is as necessary to the body as eating, whereas, the two are not relevant to our spiritual life. But Paul is saying that since our body belongs to God therefore, everything about it is relevant to our spiritual life. So, dealing with the sin of sexual immorality is to bring the body under control. This is why abstinence from food is the church’s first discipline when fasting and this goes along with prayer and charitable giving.

There is no way we can go about sextual sin and whatever interpretation we give to it, there is an alienation with sexual sin that do not apply with other categories of sin. All sin alienates, damages, injures, or defiles in several ways but the awful consequences of sexual sin to the body and the society at large, is greater than any other sin. There is a particular disgraceful, shameful, and scarring thing about sexual sin in that it affects the body which is the temple of God than any other sin.

Probably this is why Paul urges the church to ‘flee from sexual sin’. When we recognise the sin of immorality and each time, we are faced with it, we flee from it; there is no way we will fall into its temptation.

A good example of this is the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:6-12). She severally attempted to seduce Joseph and the moment she lay hold on his garment, he left the garment with her and fled from her. A sharp difference from this is the case of Samson who ran towards sexual temptation (Judges 16:4-21). In his case, Samson did not learn to control his passion instead, he cultivated a sexual lifestyle which eventually destroyed him.

What to do to overcome sexual temptation:

1. Among several others, you must recognise your weakness of the sin. Ask God to forgive you and if you have not surrendered your life to the lordship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, do so. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

2. Be able to counteract your personal weaknesses. Know yourself and admit your struggle. Your weakness is usually pulled towards your focus. For some, focusing on illicit relation outside marriage bounds; yet others, addiction to phonography; and yet others being drawn towards the same sex. All these points to choices of meeting a legitimate need in an illegitimate way and each has to be counteracted. This can be done in a systematic way of memorising the verses of the scriptures relating to sexual immorality. Thereby replacing sexual thoughts with godly thoughts.

3. Guard your leisure time. A check must be put on your leisure time. Note here that it is not bad to have good time, to relax and have fun, but your free moments must be guarded. King David fell during his unguarded free moment (2Sam. 11:11). And this created a lot of pains in his life and even later, in his kingdom.

4. Importantly, you need to screen your close companions. When you clean up your choice of friends, then you are able to clean up our lifestyle. Because bad company corrupts (Prov. 13:20).

Olufunmilayo Titilola Adekusibe

Prayer:

1. Father, thank you for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in forgiveness of my

sin, in Jesus name.

2. Thank you also for the encouragement and strength that comes to me any

time I am exposed to your truth, in Jesus name.

3. Let the light of your truth dispel every darkness from my spirit and help me

to recognise your victory in place of my defeat, in Jesus name.

4. Father, I confess that I cannot help myself, wherever I need help in the area

of sexual sin, help me Lord, and give me the humble courage to change, in

Jesus name.

5. Father, in mercy heal your church of any vices that is destroying her fabric,

in Jesus name.

6. Let the power in the blood of Jesus sanitise our nation starting with our

leaders, in Jesus name.