The Cost of Sexual Immorality
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.
How to live finacially wise
“The New American Standard Bible translates Romans 13:8, "Owe nothing to anyone." This would appear to prohibit debt. The New International Version reads, "Let no debt remain outstanding." This translation would allow debt, but insists it be paid off as soon as possible. Hudson Taylor and Charles Spurgeon believed that Romans 13:8 prohibits debt altogether. However, if going into debt is always sin, it's difficult to understand why Scripture gives guidelines about lending and even encourages lending under certain circumstances. If debt is always sin, then lending is aiding and abetting sin, and God would never encourage it.”
Taken as a whole the bible is clear, debt is something that God discourages for his children because it is harmful for our long-term spiritual health. It is also harmful for the heath of the Lord’s church because congregations laden with debt cannot be used as extensively for ministry and missions as those operating debt-free. Struggling under a mountain of consumer debt is a warning sign that the love of money and possessions has taken root. Thankfully God offers hope through people like Dave Ramsey for all our struggles including wallet sized ones.
Too much TV?
4. Avoidance of narcissism, bad ethics, and poor reasoning — Whether it is sitcoms, reality TV shows, or even news programs, the me-first mentality is ubiquitous in television land. And from what I’ve seen of such shows as Friends and Survivor, the moral-decision making and logical thinking skills are rather suspect. Let’s just say that, as a Philosophy professor, I always know where to find vivid illustrations of moral vices and logical fallacies. So thank you for that much, Mr. Television.
His article got me thinking about our own television behavior. After moving back to the U.S. from Ireland our viewing habits changed dramatically. We didn’t have one. We became accustomed to surfing the internet (not always the best substitute), reading, talking, going out and changing our viewing habits. We watched things online, subscribed to Hulu and Netflix or watched nothing at all. My parents bought us a small television that acts as our live news broadcaster but we watch very little of that too. We also noticed that while we living in Europe, televisions in America got bigger. We left when CRT’s were still the norm and returned to find 42” flat screens in every living room. Even now, walking through our apartment complex we see huge televisions crammed into people’s living rooms; sitting that close to something that big can’t be good for your eyes. Right mom?
Interestingly, I’ve noticed some of the same things as Jim Spiegel. By watching less television we’ve become more sensitive to obscenity, our opinion of good television has changed dramatically, and we’re less tolerant of commercials. We watch the shows we want to watch, not just what’s on, and we watch those things that we’ve screened, read reviews on, or have been recommended. By removing the television as the center of our home we’ve made room for better things which for the most part have been positive. Now if we can scale back our internet surfing... all things in moderation right?
The relationship between discipline and holiness
After reading Tim Challies blog entry this morning comparing the campaign to rid the Japanese from the islands of the South Pacific to how our enemy works to take the small “islands” in our lives before attacking the mainland, it reminded me of Hebrews 12:7-11 which says
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
There should be a new saying in the church “Discipline is wickedness leaving the soul.”
God’s campaign to rid his creation of wickedness was instituted with Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension but the campaign to completely exterminate sin from the small enclaves in our lives takes a lifetime. God blesses us with the gift of his Spirit which works to sanctify us and make us more like Jesus through repentance, confession of sin, striving after holiness, fellowship with the saints, worship and communion, and conforming our minds to the mind of Christ. Sometimes the process is easy, sometimes it’s painful, but it’s always for our good. God’s discipline in our lives is a reminder not of his anger but of his love for us in making us more like Jesus. If you’re feeling disciplined rest assured, discipline is wickedness leaving the soul.
