Overcoming Sexual Temptation Through Christ (cont.)
A Far Better Place to Look
God calls you, my sons, to reject sexual consumerism. Christ calls you to seek pleasure in him, and to pour out your life in selfless giving to God and to others.
Jesus Christ is the opposite of pornography. Jesus lived a life of denial and sacrifice. No lust, ever. Sex for him was unnecessary, even as he imaged God perfectly. He became the least and the last in order to put us first.
Pornography is self-exalting. It puts your pleasures and desires first, before the glory of God and the good of others. Because Christ is the opposite of pornography, look to him in your fight against sexual sin. Overcoming sexual temptation through Christ is possible. When you behold Christ, you will become like him.
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Look upon his face, and porn will begin to look strangely dim.
A Safe Place After Sexual Failure
When Moses asked God to show him his glory (Exodus 33:18), the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ had not yet been fully revealed. How much more glorious is it for you, when you ask God to show you his glory now after the cross and resurrection?
You only have to read about this glory in God’s Word, and meditate on it in your hearts and minds. You will be changed. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).
If you’re drawn to the illicit pleasures of the internet, remember the words of Robert Murray M’Cheyne. “For every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ.”
One look at your sinful self calls for 10 looks at Christ nailed to a cross for you. Being in Christ is the only qualification we need to behold his glory, even after we sin. He alone is the cure and the prevention for your sin.
Be Thou My Vision
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
A healthy eye connotes clear vision. You’ll have a spiritually healthy way of looking at things (like the gift of sex). But your eyes can lie to you if you see only with them and not through them. The eye can distort your heart and mind if you use it to see only what’s directly in front of you. When your eyes are filled with the glory of God in Christ, you’ll clearly see through the distorting lies of lust.
Before Daddy and I had you boys, we planned our wedding. I wanted to play my favorite hymn, “Be Thou My Vision,” before I walked down the aisle. My prayer was that Christ would always be my vision in marriage. And now that prayer surrounds you both as well.
I pray that Christ will be your vision in all of life. May your eyes be filled with glory leading to truth and life and joy. What you put before your eyes will change you. May it fill you with light, not darkness.
Love,
Your Mama
Youth leaders and parents: How do you talk about overcoming sexual temptation through Christ? Please share insights in the comments section.
