I had an interesting conversation with a friend today about various temptations that people face, namely sexual temptation. I am human just like the next girl and I am not immune to temptation so of course the topic of sex is one of those things that come up with me from time to time. Sex is every where so there really is no escaping it. I don't watch TV very often and when I do find the time to watch TV, I usually stick with The Food Network or HGTV. I'm not one of those head in the sand Christians but I do know where to draw the line so I am not having to deal with temptations that can certainly be avoided.
In chatting with my friend, the topic of sin came up and I asked his thoughts on pre-martial sex. We had this conversation before but I realize he never really said whether he is for or against it.
Turns out he is on the fence about it. Aren't most people when it comes to something that we enjoy?
I wasn't disappointed in his response because lately, I have been on the fence about it too. Not on the fence about whether it is right or wrong because it is wrong. More on the fence about why its wrong. I know the Bible says its wrong but in my head, I was allowing my own fleshly rationalization to take over. I asked God to seriously do work on my thoughts because I couldn't do it on my own.
And He did. With this very conversation.
I asked my friend is it OK to pick and choose what sins we choose to refrain from and what we choose to indulge in. Christians today tend to treat the Bible like a buffet. They pick out what suits them and leave the rest. We won't commit murder or steal but we will have sex. Sex is OK, its acceptable, its the norm, it feels good.
Does God pick and choose what He will forgive us for since we pick and chose what parts of the Bible we will obey and what we wont? Did Jesus die on the cross to redeem us from most of our sins, but not the really bad ones? Yeah, I didn't think so either.
I choose to abstain from sex until I am married because I know the consequences of doing so. Also because the Bible says so. I figured if I am going to say I follow Christ, I might as well go at it whole heartedly and not half way. My life is its own testimony of the amazing power of God so if He can rescue me from my own pit of despair, surely I can honor Him and His commandments because not doing that is what got me in trouble in the first place.
The Bible is real. It's God's word, His written truth for us to take as the absolute truth. Sure there are plenty of things that we may not agree with like not having sex before marriage but it pleases Him for us to still honor Him and His commands. Being a follower of Christ doesn't mean life will be easy and there are certainly lots of things that we would rather still do before we came to Him for forgiveness. But at the end of the day, we were forgiven for ALL of our sins because our God is not a buffet style, I will take this but leave that kinda God. We shouldn't be that way either.
Showing posts with label sex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sex. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Hardest Thing I've Ever Done
I am a 29 year old virgin. LOL. Well okay, not a virgin in the traditional sense, especially since I have 2 kids. But in my mind I am a virgin again. As of December 28, 2010, I officially have not had sex in 1 year. Willingly not had sex in 1 year. Yes, I made a vow to myself not to have sex anymore until I was married. That vow was probably the hardest thing I have ever done.
I didn't have any formal ceremony, no fanfare or public declaration. I came back to Christ in September 2009 after straying for about 10 years and got baptized that November. When I made the choice to get baptized, I made the commitment to take my walk with Christ seriously. That included honoring Him in all ways, including my body. I made the decision to remain pure, but it took a few weeks before that commitment I made with my mouth actually caught up with my heart. It was on that night in December that I really felt disappointed and disgusted with myself about having sex outside of marriage. It was the first time that I seriously couldn't even look at myself in the mirror without feeling like such a hypocrite. I knew that on that day, my life had to change. Everyone has those pivotal moments where their life literally changes in an instant. That was one of mine.
Breaking that spirit of Jezebel, lust, and sexual immorality was HARD. Like seriously hard. I've struggled with sexual sin for as long as I can remember but refraining from it takes more effort than most things in my life. I am diligent and intentional about avoiding things that reignite that familiar spirit. I have basically cut out TV except for The Food Network and Cooking Channel because sex is in just about every show and commercial. I have cut out most of the old music I used to listen to because again, nothing but sex. I don't allow myself to be alone with men, especially someone I have feelings for. I already know that my flesh will be stronger than my will, so I am not even going to chance it. I tell friends when I am having sexual desires so they can hold me accountable. It's harder to fall into sexual sin when you are confessing it and having someone speak positive and reassuring words into your life. Are these radical changes? Not really. At some point in your life, the things that were entertaining stop being entertaining. When operating in the Spirit, you can't help but turn away from sin. I can still remember instinctively shielding my eyes during a sex scene at a movie for the very first time last year. I shocked myself actually but then realized that I was a new person, a new creation in Christ who choses to honor Him with a pure body, mind and spirit.
So I have one whole year of celibacy under my belt and it hasn't killed me. In all honesty, I think I have grown and matured more in this year than in all of my 29 years. I didn't have that sexual spirit consuming me and distracting me from things that My Father deem more important. Don't misunderstand me because the feelings are still there. I just choose to submit their desire to My Father and allow His grace and mercy to ease my heart. Pastor Johnson always says that he is striving to have more white dresses in our generation and I think that stuck with me when I heard it at my first Fusion service. No matter how much I love sex, I love honoring My Father more.
I didn't have any formal ceremony, no fanfare or public declaration. I came back to Christ in September 2009 after straying for about 10 years and got baptized that November. When I made the choice to get baptized, I made the commitment to take my walk with Christ seriously. That included honoring Him in all ways, including my body. I made the decision to remain pure, but it took a few weeks before that commitment I made with my mouth actually caught up with my heart. It was on that night in December that I really felt disappointed and disgusted with myself about having sex outside of marriage. It was the first time that I seriously couldn't even look at myself in the mirror without feeling like such a hypocrite. I knew that on that day, my life had to change. Everyone has those pivotal moments where their life literally changes in an instant. That was one of mine.
Breaking that spirit of Jezebel, lust, and sexual immorality was HARD. Like seriously hard. I've struggled with sexual sin for as long as I can remember but refraining from it takes more effort than most things in my life. I am diligent and intentional about avoiding things that reignite that familiar spirit. I have basically cut out TV except for The Food Network and Cooking Channel because sex is in just about every show and commercial. I have cut out most of the old music I used to listen to because again, nothing but sex. I don't allow myself to be alone with men, especially someone I have feelings for. I already know that my flesh will be stronger than my will, so I am not even going to chance it. I tell friends when I am having sexual desires so they can hold me accountable. It's harder to fall into sexual sin when you are confessing it and having someone speak positive and reassuring words into your life. Are these radical changes? Not really. At some point in your life, the things that were entertaining stop being entertaining. When operating in the Spirit, you can't help but turn away from sin. I can still remember instinctively shielding my eyes during a sex scene at a movie for the very first time last year. I shocked myself actually but then realized that I was a new person, a new creation in Christ who choses to honor Him with a pure body, mind and spirit.
So I have one whole year of celibacy under my belt and it hasn't killed me. In all honesty, I think I have grown and matured more in this year than in all of my 29 years. I didn't have that sexual spirit consuming me and distracting me from things that My Father deem more important. Don't misunderstand me because the feelings are still there. I just choose to submit their desire to My Father and allow His grace and mercy to ease my heart. Pastor Johnson always says that he is striving to have more white dresses in our generation and I think that stuck with me when I heard it at my first Fusion service. No matter how much I love sex, I love honoring My Father more.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Juice Boxes and Sex Education
For the past couple of days, I have been monitoring reports about the Helena, Montana public school district's proposed health curriculum that will introduce sex education to kindergartners. Right between a juice box break and recess will be talks about penises and vaginas.
What has our world come to?
I am relieved that parents have turned out in droves to protest this absurd idea of teaching sex to kids that can barely comprehend the concept of walking in a single filed line down the hall way. But, it saddens me that ABC News has reported that President Obama supports this idea. I tend to want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on most political decisions, but this just will not fly. Where have our moral standards gone? Has this country turned so far away from God's standards to plant the seeds of sexual immorality into the children?
We live in a hyper sexualized world. Sex is everywhere you turn. Movies, TV, music, books, advertisement, everywhere. Kids are like walking sponges, taking in everything that parents don't filter. When the Internet and television replace family teachings on morals and values, it's no wonder that middle schoolers are frequently engaging in sexual activity. I've had countless talks with my middle schooler's teachers about how sex has taken over the schools because of the media, pop culture and lack of parental supervision. Why has it come to this? Why has the country become so accepting of practices that go against God's will?
The proposed curriculum will introduce appropriate names of body parts in kindergarten and the concept that it's alright to have same sex attraction in first grade. Fifth graders will discuss homosexual relationships and sexual intercourse, "which includes but not limited to vaginal, oral or anal penetration." People that support this proposal believe that children should not be shelter from what is in the world. What about teaching them to follow Romans 12:2 and not conform to the world?
Believers in Christ have been made to be set apart from the world and issues like this should cause a stirring in your heart. This is what breaks the heart of God. We have been giving the authority of the Father and the boldness of the Holy Spirit to speak against the sinful nature of the world and to speak God's truth. This world is slowly falling down around us and we must take a stand and reclaim God's Kingdom on Earth.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (MSG) states "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity."
It's time to pray for a revival in this nation. A revival of righteousness and truth. A revival of family values and honoring God's truth. A revival to raise mighty champions who turn against the sins of the world, who remain pure in the bodies and mind, who honor the Father by honoring His Word.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/15/montana.sex.education/
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/sex-ed-for-kind.html
What has our world come to?
I am relieved that parents have turned out in droves to protest this absurd idea of teaching sex to kids that can barely comprehend the concept of walking in a single filed line down the hall way. But, it saddens me that ABC News has reported that President Obama supports this idea. I tend to want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on most political decisions, but this just will not fly. Where have our moral standards gone? Has this country turned so far away from God's standards to plant the seeds of sexual immorality into the children?
We live in a hyper sexualized world. Sex is everywhere you turn. Movies, TV, music, books, advertisement, everywhere. Kids are like walking sponges, taking in everything that parents don't filter. When the Internet and television replace family teachings on morals and values, it's no wonder that middle schoolers are frequently engaging in sexual activity. I've had countless talks with my middle schooler's teachers about how sex has taken over the schools because of the media, pop culture and lack of parental supervision. Why has it come to this? Why has the country become so accepting of practices that go against God's will?
The proposed curriculum will introduce appropriate names of body parts in kindergarten and the concept that it's alright to have same sex attraction in first grade. Fifth graders will discuss homosexual relationships and sexual intercourse, "which includes but not limited to vaginal, oral or anal penetration." People that support this proposal believe that children should not be shelter from what is in the world. What about teaching them to follow Romans 12:2 and not conform to the world?
Believers in Christ have been made to be set apart from the world and issues like this should cause a stirring in your heart. This is what breaks the heart of God. We have been giving the authority of the Father and the boldness of the Holy Spirit to speak against the sinful nature of the world and to speak God's truth. This world is slowly falling down around us and we must take a stand and reclaim God's Kingdom on Earth.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (MSG) states "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity."
It's time to pray for a revival in this nation. A revival of righteousness and truth. A revival of family values and honoring God's truth. A revival to raise mighty champions who turn against the sins of the world, who remain pure in the bodies and mind, who honor the Father by honoring His Word.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/15/montana.sex.education/
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/sex-ed-for-kind.html
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