Randy Alcorn again posted a hard-hitting blog entry asking us to consider the cost of sexual immorality. In addition to his words of wisdom, he offered a list of “consequences” to be considered prior to ever falling into sexual sin:

Personalized List of Anticipated Consequences of Immorality (Click to read his entire post)

• Grieving my Lord; displeasing the One whose opinion most matters.
• Dragging into the mud Christ's sacred reputation.
• Loss of reward and commendation from God.
• Having to one day look Jesus in the face at the judgment seat and give an account of why I did it. Forcing God to discipline me in various ways.
• Following in the footsteps of men I know of whose immorality forfeited their ministry and caused me to shudder. List of these names...

Sexual sin is devastating to any life, how much more to the Christian’s life because it mares the power and attractiveness of our Lord Jesus. This doesn’t mean that a life once taken by sexual immorality can’t be redeemed or forgiven and healed but the ripples never really go away. Understanding the ugly consequences of our sin contrasted against the awesome perfection of Jesus is a great exercise to do, one that I recommend whole-heartedly.

For further reading on this issue in relation to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s recent confession check Debtor to Grace’s thoughts. John Piper’s reasoning for not having a television fits nicely with this, something I covered a few days ago.

You can also download Randy Alcorn’s booklet entitled Sexual Temptation: How Christian Workers Can Win the Battle here.

Tags: holiness