Fighting Sexual Temptations
Fighting Sexual Temptations
Fighting Sexual Temptations
Temptation
An Attack of the Heart
by
Anthony J. Carter
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
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“Satan gives Adam an apple (fruit), and takes away Paradise.
Therefore in all temptations let us consider not what he offers,
but what we shall lose.”
- Richard Sibbes
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lust; tells us how to curb our lust; and offers the path to
contentment in place of lust.
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families that are ravaged by it. And yet God never wants
his people to get used to any sin, and especially not
adultery. Adultery is an awful sin for several reasons.
It is first and foremost a sin against God.
Adultery says to God that God is not enough. It says, “I
must have more than he gives me. I must have more than
he can offer.” It says that God’s wisdom and timing are
erroneous and misplaced. It says that I know better than
God does – I know best. It is the manifestation of a heart
that is not satisfied with God and His direction of our lives.
Thus, it impugns God’s character and defames his name.
No wonder David prayed and confessed after he had
sinned with Bathsheba: “Against you, and you only, have I
sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:3).
It is also a sin against the most sacred trust. It
violates the most sacred bond and covenant one person can
make with another. To pledge oneself in marriage to
another is the highest and most God-like expression of
covenant love we human beings can experience on earth.
So lofty and holy is this expression that God has chosen it
to demonstrate the love that he has for his people. The
divine marriage covenant prefigured in God and his
relationship with the nation of Israel (Isa. 54:5), today is
fulfilled in Christ and his relationship with the Church
(Eph. 5:22-32).
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not exist. Jesus says elsewhere, “The eye is the lamp of the
body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of
light” (Matt. 6:22).
As such we must be diligent in what we find
gaining the attention of our eyes. Admittedly this is not
easy in our sex-crazed society. Everywhere you turn -
whether sitting at home in front of the television or at work
in front of the computer, whether watching a movie at a
theater or just walking in the park - your eyes are nearly
blinded by sexually explicit connotations and innuendo.
Several points could be made in this regard.
Firstly, too often the movies we regard as “girl
flicks” are nothing more than propaganda for illicit and
extra-marital affairs. So-called “date movies” often serve as
visual foreplay encouraging sexual playfulness and pre-
marital encounters.
Secondly, according to a recent study by the Kaiser
Family Foundation, sexual content on TV has soared since
1998. The sampling was taken from more than 1,000 hours
of television programming outside of newscasts, sports
events, and children shows. All sexual content was
measured, including talk about sex and sexual behavior.
The study was taken from a variety of networks including
ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, PBS, TNT, USA, HBO, and
Lifetime. The following was discovered:
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http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia110905nr.cfm
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then ask the men in your life. If they are honest they will
tell you when your dress is too revealing or not.2
Ladies, I do understand the difficulty here. My
wife frequently informs me how difficult it is to find nice,
modest clothing today for her and our daughters. The
fashion world is not interested in godly standards. David
Brooks, journalist and social commentator, has rightly said:
The average square yardage of boys’ fashion grows and
grows while the square inches in the girls’ outfits shrink
and shrink, so that while the boys look like tent-wearing
skateboarders, the girls look like preppy prostitutes.3
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Another helpful resource to consider when
accessing modesty in dress is the Modesty Heart Check.
You can find a copy of it online at
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/modesty_heart_check3.pdf
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Quoted in Sermon on the Mount: The Character of a
Disciple, Daniel M. Doriani (Philipsburg, NJ: P&R
Publishing, 2006), p. 64
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Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and the sake of the gospel
worth the effort as well?
When our children were younger they yearly
attended Cedine Bible Camp in Spring City, TN. Every
year before they would leave we received in our home the
dress code for camp. Here is what Cedine Camp required:
Please dress modestly at all times…
Females:
1. Pants, skirts and shorts should not be tight fitting or
revealing. Shorts must be at or past fingertips when
arms are at sides.
2. No spaghetti straps, low cleavage tops, halter tops, or
men muscle shirts.
3. Tops must be long enough to cover waist when arms are
extended above the head, when bending over or sitting.
4. One piece swim suits only.
Males:
1. Shirts must be worn at all times in the area. No muscle
shirts.
2. Pants/Shorts must be comfortable, but not dropping or
overly sagging.
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Quoted in Revive our Hearts Summer 2007
Newsletter, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, “Does God Really Care
What I Wear?”
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we must not just run for the sake of running; we must run
to the right place. And where is that? We must run to
Calvary. We must run to the cross. Consequently, the
Apostle Paul answers his question of deliverance by
thanking God for Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:25).
When we look to the Cross of Christ we see there a
Savior who is able to save and satisfy. We see a Savior who
was like us, in every way tempted and yet without sin
(Heb. 4:15). There we see a Savior whose body was broken
and whose blood was shed so that our sins no longer have
rule or sway in our lives. We see a Savior who by his
sacrifice broke the power of sin and Satan in our lives.
There we see a Savior who in place of the temporary and
fleeting satisfaction of unlawful sex, offers himself as a
superior, complete, and eternal satisfaction to his people.
Sexual temptation is strong and in our times often
ubiquitous. Those who claim never to have been exposed
or even fallen prey to it are either lying or have lived with
their head in the sand. None of us are immune to it, and if
we are honest, no one can say they have been kept pure
from it. Nevertheless, we never need live as slaves to it or
to find ourselves perpetrators of it. We have Christ!
Therefore, when your mind begins to think upon
illicit things, when you heart begins to wander after that
which does not belong to you, and when Satan then comes
and seeks to tempt you finally to fall because you have
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Or write:
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