Fight Right, Run Smart
Living in a way that honors God can feel like a battle. Especially when it comes to struggles with lust and sexual temptation in our culture today. This isn’t all that different than the way it was for the first-century church at Corinth.
Corinth was a large, influential city in the Roman Empire, where the culture of the East met the West. With this came vices from across the planet offered as commonalities to the people living there. This city would be a larger, more impactful Las Vegas if it were around in the same way today.
The church there was messed up! Confusion, infighting, and immorality had crept in, and Paul is writing to them to remind them of the power of the gospel in their lives. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul gets specific about the way in which we honor God in a world full of sexual temptation. Paul reminded the church that, to win the fight against lust, we have to train our hearts with truth and know when to run from temptation.
Truth is important! Paul shares hard truth, reminding the church that though we are technically able to do anything we want, not everything is good for us. To win this battle, we need to bring our desires into alignment with the truth of God’s word.
We are not victims of our urges, nor slaves to our desires. We might feel things, but our feelings don’t get to tell us what to do. To prove this point, Paul connects sexual immorality and its effect on our bodies to other ways in which we maintain our bodies.
I am technically able to eat whatever I want; however, eating whatever I want will not lead to health, nor will it honor God. In the same way, we are technically free to engage in sexuality however we desire, but this will not honor God, nor will it lead to our flourishing.
Paul calls the Church to not be mastered by anything. We should be controlled by God’s Holy Spirit and his power, not any other substance, device, desire, app, or appetite.
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and just like it would be wrong to see santanic worship happening in our church, so too it is out of place for our bodies to be used for immortality.
Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 6 vs 18 by instructing God’s people to “Flee sexual immorality!” He tells us to stay away from the things that cause us to lust.
Maybe you’re wondering what that looks like practically? I believe it begins with having boundaries. In his book of the same name, DR. Henry Cloud said of boundaries, “Boundaries define us. They define what is me and what is not me. A boundary shows me where I end and someone else begins, leading me to a sense of ownership. Knowing what I am to own and take responsibility for gives me freedom.”
Whether these are physical, digital, or emotional, it’s important for all of us to guard our lives from sexual immorality as we seek to follow Jesus.
We also need to seek accountability. Through trusted people, tools (like Covenant Eyes), and through a deepening love for and walk with Jesus, each of us needs to have things in our lives to keep us accountable as we seek to honor God.
God has a good plan for us. His desire is that our lives would be protected and free from shame. The Enemy wants to steal, kill, rob, and destroy this good plan, but we can and will overcome. We can win in the battle against lust when we follow God’s plan, know God’s word, and surround ourselves with healthy influences that point us to Him.
