Remix: Student Devotionals

Sin and Temptation: Week 5, Day 1

Day 1: Trapped

Genesis 1:27-28 says, 27, "So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number."

This is the only commandment we have ever done right in the entire Bible, and do you know why? It's because we like this one.

Genesis 2:24-25 "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

I knew the wedding night was going to be the greatest moment of my life. I knew that. I used to pray that Jesus wouldn't come back before my wedding day because I knew it was going to be great, and I've got to say it was pretty good.

Sex is this incredible gift that God has given couples to enjoy in a married relationship. You see, sex is two people becoming one, not just physically but spiritually as well. Sex fuses two people together unlike anything else. It is more than just a bonding of body to body; it is also the bonding together of the soul to soul, and if that relationship breaks off, you leave a part of yourself behind.

Let me illustrate. Let's say you go outside, and it is 10 degrees; it's cold, and you have the bright idea of sticking your tongue to the flagpole. When you pull your tongue off that flagpole, I promise you; you will leave something of yourself behind.

It's the same way with sex before marriage. Almost weekly, we hear about one person after the other crossing a line they promised themselves they would never cross, and what they thought was going to be so great was just so messed up.

Almost weekly, we hear about the wounds of the single person who longs to be with someone only to find that they were just used again.

Sex outside of marriage is a trap that will snare you and try to suck the life out of you.

Sex outside of marriage will bring guilt and shame.
It could bring disease and lifelong regret.
You could get pregnant, causing another life to be affected by your sin, and God in his goodness wants to spare us of all that pain.

Years ago, John Ortberg went to a non-faith-based retreat for a group of men, and he said it was just kind of out there. The last morning of it was really interesting. They said the topic for this last session was going to be sex. John said, "It was very raw, not at all what I expected. It was a confessional.

One guy stood up, and he said, "I've had sex with so many women in my life I've lost count, and last week I kind of hit a new low. I was having sex with a woman, and I realized I didn’t know her name, and I felt so empty afterward." He talked about the guilt and the shame of all that he has done and how he used women as an object to fulfill his sexual needs. He wept as he spoke. Another guy stood up, and he said, "I was married, and I thought it was a pretty good marriage, and I had this relationship with this woman at work, and we just started crossing lines and kept going, and now I'm all alone, and I don't even know why I did it."

Another guy got up, "My girlfriend and I just had a cool thing, and then we moved in together, and the sex was so hot, and then eventually we got married, and after, I don't know, four months or six months, it's like there's nothing there. I don't know what happened."

Do you see the thread in those stories? All were miserable, and all felt tremendous amounts of guilt. Don't buy into the lies you see on the TV and in movies. Sex comes with consequences; that is why God wants us to wait until we get married because the burden is so significant to bear.

When we become Christians, our bodies are no longer our own. We were bought with the price of Christ's death, and God's Spirit lives in us. We are to honor God with our bodies, and when we don't, we will feel the pain.

Time Out:

How do movies and TV depict teenage sex?

Do you think they portray the consequences adequately?

Why do you think sex is not just a physical thing but a spiritual thing as well?

Look up 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and answer the following questions.

Why does he say he who sins sexually sins against his own body?

If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. How does it make you feel to hear that your body is not your own?

What are we supposed to do with our bodies?

 

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7