Proverbs 4:18,19—The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
I grew up in a pornography-free environment. My parents love God and they made sure that we were raised in a house that allowed no such filth.
During my second year of college, I had a roommate who kept in the second drawer on the left side of his desk a stack of Playboys and other adult magazines. He owned a stereo and loved to play music that glorified sex and championed lust. I condemned his reading material and protested his choice in music. But he did not value my values or agree with my convictions. Slowly, my resistance wore down until the day came when I submitted to the raging temptation to look inside those magazines. No one ever saw me but I was observed. No one ever caught me but I was imprisoned. I endured a miserable semester of inner guilt and gained immeasurable insight into what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing . . . What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:18,19,24,25)
Many would say that what I did wasn’t so bad. I was the victim of an environment over which I had little control. I was exercising my natural curiosity and no one else was involved so what difference did it make. Some would go so far to say that with my experience I gained valuable insight useful for helping others who have struggled most of their lives with pornography.
We live in a society that has mastered the art of making excuses. We flourish at ignoring God’s laws when they are not in synch with our own appetites. We rationalize immorality by attacking moral absolutes as restrictive and judgmental. We condone the actions of those who are genetically conceived with peculiar tastes while missing the reality that everyone is wired to sin. We succumb in the war of evil because we have lost sight of the battle of choice.
Righteousness—doing right, is something we must choose. Wickedness—doing wrong also requires us to choose. So life is made up of choices. I decide:
· to pay for merchandise or shoplift;
· to speak the truth or deceive;
· to honor authority or be disrespectful; to love or hate;
· to serve or be selfish;
· to listen or ignore;
· to confront or feign ignorance;
· to be patient or impatient;
· to persevere or give up;
· to obey God’s commandments or disobey Him;
· to spend time with family or live at work;
· to care for the body or wear it out;
· to exercise moderation or consume carelessly;
· to speak kindly or tear down;
· to think pure thoughts or harbor resentment and envy . . .
If you are caught in behavior that God forbids there is a way out.
#1. Be honest enough to call sin—sin, confess it before God!
#2. Stop rationalizing your excuses for wrong behavior.
#3. Cry out to Jesus who endured temptation, knows what you are going through (Hebrews
#4. Choose to do what is right.
To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.—Jude 24,25
Inspiration
