SORD Guest: IRENE
Today I met this pretty lady called IRENE. I asked her what she thought about the origin of sexual feelings. She went on to tell me from the scripture:
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality . . .”
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
(Matthew 5:28).
You will inevitably adopt the morality of the programs, movies, books, magazines, music, Internet sites and conversations you participate in.
Remember GIGO, Garbage in, garbage out; Godliness in, Godliness out.
The cognitive is basic to the behavioral; you become what you choose to feed your mind on.
Sow a thought, reap an action;
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Your future can be accurately predicted by what you allow your mind to dwell on. Sinful actions don’t come out of nowhere, they are the cumulative product of little moral compromises made over time, which ultimately culminate in ungodly behavior.
There’s nothing new about sexual temptation; what’s new is how it has invaded our homes. In first century Corinth there were prostitutes all over the streets, but when you entered your home you had a sanctuary from the temptation. We live in a technological Corinth, where immorality can come into the privacy of our home through I-pads, I-phones, I- macs and airwaves (television) . Most of us are only a few push buttons away from sexual immorality of the mind. The whats app groups, the Facebook posts and many social mediums are up to raise our sexual crave. Every choice we make to view and contemplate immorality desensitizes us to its evil.
Actions, habits, character and destiny all start with a thought, and thoughts are fostered by what we choose to take into our minds. Therefore we should take extreme care about what we feed our minds on.
”Above all else, guard your heart [mind, inner being], for it is the wellspring of life”
If someone wants to pollute water, he pollutes it at its source. If he wants to purify water, he purifies it at its source. Our thoughts are the source of our lives. All our lives flow from our mind, and through the choices we make every day we program our minds, either for godliness or ungodliness.
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word”
Our minds are not a vacuum; they will be filled with something. It is necessary to turn our minds from the worthless, but it’s not sufficient. We also must fill our minds with good thoughts that crowd out and combat the bad ones. It’s not enough to say “don’t think about anything bad.” (If I say, “don’t think about spiders,” what do you think about?) We must also choose to think about the good. (If I say “think about your favorite dessert,” pretty soon you stop thinking about spiders.) Time in the Word, in prayer, and in conversations with Christ-centered friends reinforces our commitment to purity.
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure . . . think about such things”
We can’t avoid every temptation, but we can avoid many of them, and we can certainly resist their attempts to take hold of us. Martin Luther said, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”
Be careful what you expose your mind to. If you’re on a diet, don’t go to Baskin & Robin’s. If you do, your resistance will break down. If you want to abstain from lust you don’t go places and watch movies and programs and read things that stimulate lust.
Your body will go where your mind allows it to. When it comes to your sexual purity, the ultimate battle is in your mind. Don’t give your mind junk food. Be sure you’re getting spiritual nutrition.
STITCH OR DITCH SHOW 