Over the summer at camp, we talked about the obsession over sex. Its real. It has flooded the media and all the movies we see… Purity is so important to me and I get fired up when this topic is brought up. This is what I learned…

 

2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

Do you believe that God’s word is true? Do you fear Him enough to obey what it says because you know the consequences that are also written down in His word? 

Lust is a forbidden word, isn’t it? But if we are all honest with ourselves, we all lust after something. Whether its the opposite sex, same sex, money, power… Whatever it is, we find something we want and we center our focus on that one thing. For guys, it starts earlier than it would for a girl. I’m talking about lusting another person. It is very common for a 5th or 6th grade boy to start looking at pornography. But did you know that 11% of girls watch it too? Its not just a guy thing. Its a people thing. Because our kind messed it up in the very beginning, we all have this temptation in our lives sooner or later.

I see girls more open about their lust on the Internet. There are Woman Crush Wednesdays but there are also Man Candy Mondays. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about. Most “Man Candy Mondays” and “Woman Crush Wednesdays” can be jokes but the way girls go on and on and on about celebrities like Zac Efron and Channing Tatum show that girls do lust just like guys do.

While it may seem I’m bashing on girls, I want to say that both guys and girls are guilty of this. Its not just girls and its not just guys. 

With the access technology and smart phones have given us, its very easy to become another viewer in that statistic’s percentage. Now lets go back to that verse in 2 Timothy.

“Run” it says, “from ANYTHING that stimulates youthful lust.”

Usually when you run from something, you don’t look back. If someone was chasing you with a gun, you would run as fast as you could to find shelter and/or safety. Looking back would just slow you down. You also wouldn’t turn back and run towards that person. Why pursue something that will hurt you? That example, as ridiculous and obvious as it may sound, is how ridiculous it is to chase after pornography or lust. I’ve talked to and heard many stories from leaders and friends that dealt with pornography or sexual activity and then got married… It messed them up. Your mind is so easily effected and its often hard to shake a thought once it enters your brain. 

So run. No, not literally. I mean run from outfits that you know will cause someone to stumble. When you put your clothes on in the morning, when it comes down to it, you’re dressing for people. If you were going to sit around at home all day, alone, you would wear sweatpants, sweatshirts, pajamas, and would not try to look good. You know that people will see you when you walk out the door and you know that what you wear says sends some kind of message. Your heart can be displayed by what you wear. Your clothes always show your intentions. 

So don’t be selfish and base your self worth on causing others to stumble. If you feel pretty because someone whistles at you, that worth is over in one second and shows that when people look at you, they don’t think about you but what they want to do to you.

If you believe God’s word to be true and want to love your neighbor as yourself, don’t assist your brothers and sisters in Christ in sinning against your big, powerful God. 

Run from pornography. If your phone or computer tempts you, tell someone that can keep you accountable. The last part of that verse says, “Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” Ask a friend or be brave and ask a parent to turn Safesearch on or something on your computer. Those images you see only take a few minutes to reach but will never leave your mind. Pornography, besides how it effects your mind, seems harmless. You may think:

“It won’t hurt anyone. I’ll be fine” 

Pornography is an industry. A deceitful, greedy industry that will do whatever it takes to get money. Guys and girls, some unwillingly, are pushed to do things in front of a camera and a crew. Its deceitful because the people behind these movies make sex something that its not. Its not just for you. It takes two people and when you have the mind-set that this act is only for you, you grow up with a selfish mind-set towards marriage. 

Pornography is so selfish. You are setting aside moral boundaries to please yourself and then thats all sex is; for you. If you think that you don’t have any idols or you’re not a selfish person, I’m telling you that pornography is making your own self an idol and all you’re thinking about is yourself. 

 

Run from chick-flicks. Okay, not all of them are bad. But today’s society places too much emphasis on two people’s sexual relationship in movies. 

You read the verse, “Run from ANYTHING…” Music, books, TV, etc. can stimulate lust whether we realize it or not. After seeing something so many times that seems to bring happiness, we can start to lust for it. After seeing a picture perfect couple on a screen or in a book, we start to want that. And when we see that they decide to have sex before marriage, we might want that too. Because if that couple is happy and its working out, it must work for everyone else. 

When we put ourselves in these situations, we open our minds to earthly thoughts and allow a door to open for lust to come in.

Run! Run! Run!

Don’t just shy away from these things. Run! My mom once told me a good analogy/example of crossing the line and how far you should go when it comes to boyfriends or whatever temptation there may be… She said:

“We don’t serve a God who stands back and says, ‘Oh, you’re almost there… A little bit farther… That lines getting closer… Just two more inches… Okay, stop!'”

That is not how it goes. God doesn’t coach you to get as close to that line as you can so you don’t cross it. Think of that line that God has set as a starting line. If you’re close to that line in your life, run the opposite direction to the finish line.

Run!

 

 

2 Timothy 2:22 

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.