Thank you men for taking up the challenge to read the Purity Principle together. My prayer is that this will be a valuable tool in your walk with God and commitment to sexual purity in an ungodly world. If you don’t have your book yet, you can pick one up in the church library for $5. We won’t necessarily summarize every point each week, but highlight some points that stood out to us. We welcome comments of what stood out to you!
Chapter one dives right in and challenges us to think of what we forfeit when we give in to sexual temptation. When we give in to lust and sexual sin, we willingly exchange the life God wants for us with decimating consequences in our lives. Alcorn brings up several “in-your-face” truths that are important to wrestle with. The first is that we must take responsibility for the choices that take us down the path of immorality. We dare not blame God for our immorality especially when we often can leave doors open for that path. Alcorn says, “How many of us Christians hope God will guard us from calamity and misery, while every day we make small, seemingly inconsequential immoral choices that inch us toward bigger immoralities?” Men, I challenge all of us to examine what things we might leave in our lives that open the door to sexual thoughts, deepening friendships with other women, and opportunities to sin. We must be vigilant and on-guard!
Another powerful part of this chapter is the numerous stories of how sexual sin has damaged lives and forfeited a walk with God. One of the lies of Satan in the area of purity is that failure doesn’t have consequences or affect anyone else. These stories and many others I would add that I have seen help us counter that lie and see the deep consequences of impurity. On pg. 13, we read, “With every little glance that fuels our lust, we push ourselves closer to the edge, where gravity will take over and bring our lives crashing down. What will we lose? What will we forfeit that could have, would have been ours?”
The last thought I wanted to mention was the truth that sexual sin is idolatry because it “puts our desires in the place of God.” There is no light and easy way to talk about purity. Failure in this area reveals what we are worshiping and serving. Alcorn writes, “Our sexual behavior reveals who or what rules our lives.” So true! Do we trust and submit to God enough to take Him at His word in the area of purity? Let’s band together and say confidently, “YES WE DO.” Do not forfeit a powerful walk with God for a few moments of selfish pleasure. My challenge for you this week is to make sure you are working on your walk with God. Spend time in His Word and in prayer. Don’t neglect the most important relationship we have. One pastor who had fallen in the area of purity described it this way, “When we don’t walk close to God, we walk on the edge of an abyss.” I’m praying for all of us men that we will walk close to God.
Jonah 2:8 (ESV) Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
