by Joshua Harris (from Not Even a Hint)
TRUTH: For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a devastating fire that destroys to hell. It would wipe out everything I own. (Job 31:11-12 NLT)
LIE: A little sinful fantasizing won’t hurt.
TRUTH: To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6 ESV)
Do not e deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8 ESV)
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:14 ESV)
LIE: Taking radical action against sin isn’t necessary.
TRUTH: If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)
LIE: God won’t mind a little compromise…
TRUTH: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:5-6)
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. (Ephesians 5:3)
LIE: It’s my body. I can do what I want with it.
TRUTH: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you are bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)
LIE: I can’t control my sex drive.
TRUTH: It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)
LIE: Looking at a few pornographic pictures won’t affect me.
TRUTH: Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? (Proverbs 6:25-26)
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. (Psalm 101:3)
LIE: I won’t experience any consequences for indulging in my lust.
TRUTH: So then, each of us will give account of himself to God. (Romans 4:12)
The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. (Hebrews 12:6)
After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15)
LIE: People get away with adultery.
TRUTH: For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. (Proverbs 5:3-5)
Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man’s house. At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. (Proverbs 5:8-11)
LIE: God is keeping something good from me.
TRUTH: Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. (Psalm 84:10-12)
LIE: The pleasure lust promises is better and more real than God’s pleasure.
TRUTH: You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)
LIE: Fulfilling my lust will satisfy me.
TRUTH: I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:24-26)
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied. (Proverbs 19:23 ESV)
LIE: Too much purity will keep me from seeing and enjoying beauty.
TRUTH: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. (Psalm 11:7 ESV)
Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. (Isaiah 33:17 ESV)
THE ROAD TO VICTORY:
- Make a covenant with your eyes.
- Daily devotion to the Lord including prayer and Bible reading.
- Motivated choice to win the battle.
- Maintain relationship with God through prayer and Bible reading.
- Have an accountability group.
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. (Ephesians 5:3)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” – but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (1 Corinthians 6:13)
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God. (1 Thessalonians 5:3-5)
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)