August 22
“Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.” (Romans 6:21)
The second question of “Why” is “Why should I not participate in immoral activities?” This includes any sins of the flesh, mind, and heart. Encompassed within this question are physical acts of immorality, viewing pornography, lusting after others, entertaining immoral fantasies, and the like. This question is critical to settle because the battle against the flesh, the world, and the devil in this area of immorality will take a lot of work and effort on the part of those who are serious about overcoming it. It will not be easy, as these are strong, addictive sins. So questions of “Why should I not be doing this thing?” are critical to answer and settle once and for all in our minds.
Some people might not see what is wrong with the activity or why it is bad, or they may argue that it is not hurting anyone. If you are struggling with the question of whether or not it is wrong, then ask these questions: if everyone in your family and circle of friends, and everyone you know from work and school, were to know you were doing this thing and see you doing it, would you be ashamed? When you are standing before the Lord in judgment and this particular thing comes up, will you be ashamed and suffer loss, or will He approve of it and reward you because of it? If you think through why you would be ashamed and why you would suffer loss, then I think you will being to understand what is wrong with the behavior.
For those of us who know it is wrong and want to overcome it, think about it more deeply. Ask yourself “Why is this wrong?” “Why does God hate this sin?” “How does this behavior hurt others?” To help you along these lines, even if you don’t understand why God has forbidden a certain thing and hates a certain thing, look at it from the standpoint of what God says about the end result of the behavior, such as “for it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come” (Colossians 3:6), and “those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). When you think of the behavior in terms of what God says He will do to those who practice it, the consequences are driven home, and our motivation to avoid these sins and help others avoid them is given a big boost.
ASSIGNMENT: Think about all your reasons for not wanting to commit this sin, for wanting to be completely free from it. Include negative consequences you are experiencing as a result of participating in these sins and the positive benefits you know you will experience if you are able to avoid and overcome these sins. Spend a lot of time on this; add to it from time to time as you think of new reasons. Ask God to show you the negative consequences and positive reasons why you don’t want to continue in these sins. Keep this list handy, as we will refer to it further down the road. Ultimately, I will recommend that you make this list more permanent and accessible to you on a daily basis, where you can go back and refer to it over and over again, day after day. The goal is to get to the point where you are very confident and continually conscious as to the “Why” you don’t want to be doing this sin. This will be a key tool we will use time and again to achieve and maintain victory over these sins of immorality.