If you could ask someone who deals with people who struggle in the arena of lust and sexual addiction what would it be?
Expectations & Reality
There’s tension when our expectations don’t meet reality. Where in the gap between our expectations and reality do we feel most vulnerable? The increased availability of material has made the tension greater.
- If our conscience isn’t strong, things that are immediately available on the service are harder to deal with.
- If our internal deficits (i.e. wounds and isolation) aren’t faced our sinful temptations can get into our heart.
- If our heart is not guarded then it can be easily attacked and blindsided.
Temptation isn’t just about behavior it’s also about identity.
What makes us most liable is whether or not we have faith and trust in God. Trust that He isn’t holding out on us and that He’ll provide for us.
James 5:16 - Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Our behavior is attached to our feelings. And our feelings are attached to the thoughts that we think. And our thoughts are attached to our beliefs. We focus too much on our behavior when in reality we have to focus on our beliefs, we have to focus on our relationship with Christ.
When you feel temptation or you fall to lust, ask yourself the question, “What were you feeling?” Once you identify the feeling, ask yourself, “What do you think was driving that?” “What was going on in your mind?” or “What do you think were some of the thoughts behind that?” and then ask “What do you believe about that?” or “What does your faith say you should do with that situation?”
The longer we follow Christ we sometimes believe it comes down to what we do and don’t do but in reality it’s also about who we are. So where is your identity? As a Christian it’s with God and Christ. When we focus on just the behavior we judge the behavior and forget that there are issues going on deeper than what we see.
If we don’t talk to our sons and daughters about sex we are being neglectful of their well being with something that could be so good. If you aren’t talking to them about it, then someone else is.
Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
We sometimes disconnect the body from the spirit. Our sins of the flesh are because of disconnect to the spirit. In the movies a bad guy is a body without a spirit or a spirit without a body.
1 Corinthians 6:13 - "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.
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