Sexual Lusts - Winning the Battle

        Why do we give into our sexual lusts? As humans, we are naturally focused on ourselves. When our vision becomes skewed, we lose sight of God and forget Him. We start to see what we believe is good for us. We start to look outside of God for happiness. That decision results in our ultimate demise. “Purity is always smart; Impurity is always stupid” (16). The punishment we receive from God is not always Him directly intervening in the situation. God always punishes sin, but many times the punishment for our sin is only the result of the sin. “The punishment is built into the sin” (16). The commands from the Scripture are commands but that does not mean we have to obey them; we do have to live with the consequences though. Many times when we sin we subconsciously ask the question: “Should I obey God or please myself.” Sadly, too often we fail to see that obeying God will ALWAYS result in me being happy. Should I steer clear of sin because I am afraid of the consequences? Yes, a result of consequences is to keep up from making wrong choices, but we need to avoid sin because it does not honor God! Our life needs to model Jesus’ example. When we sin, we do not exemplify Him; rather, we exemplify the Evil One. Satan loves to see us fall. Every sin is a reflection of Him. Every sin we commit is a thorn in the head, a nail in the wrist, and a deep sense of rejection for our Lord. A life devoid of the world’s pleasures is a life abundant with true joy. The act of fulfilling your desire does not happen  “out of the blue”, but is a result of a polluted mind. The battle for sexual purity begins in our minds. “Actions, habits, character, and destiny all start with a thought, and thoughts are fostered by what we choose to take into our minds. That’s why your most important sex organ is your brain” (42). “It’s difficult to delete bad files in our brain’s hard drive, but we can restrict the number of new bad files” (46). Having intentions and prayers are not enough. They are a good start, but they are not sufficient if we truly desire to cast off our sin. We must make deliberate strategic choices and have clear goals if we wish to have victory. “It is always easier to avoid temptation than to resist it” (55). It is not enough to simply manage our sin. Sometimes we find that it is enough to hide the sin away, but we are missing what we truly need: “divine transformation and enablement to live righteously” (56). Memorize and quote scripture. It is not enough to only have it memorized if we do not use it as ammo. Many excuses come up in regards to temptation, namely that the temptation is too strong. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and he WILL flee from us! We have this promise from Scripture, so why do we not believe it? Many people set the goal of a life of purity. Honestly, that is ridiculous! Why not focus on the here and now?
        If you can defeat Satan each moment of your life, you will eventually live a life of purity. How radical are you in your search for a pure life? How serious are you? What kind of music do you listen to? What kind of shows and movies do you watch? What kind of sites do you visit on the internet? Sure, these sites and shows may not be explicitly sexual, but are they encouraging you to remain pure, or do they even slightly allude to sensual issues? How about video stores or magazine aisles in stores; do they cause you to stumble? If so, you ought to not even be tempted! Do not make excuses! That is you wanting your lust, and you know it! Figure out where you struggle and make changes where necessary! 

Quotes from "The Purity Principle" by Randy Alcorn