September 18
“FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:37-39)
Here are some additional consequences of immoral failures:
- Discouragement, anxiety, loss of joy, faith, and peace, your fears coming upon you.
In addition to losing our energy for work, immoral failings bring discouragement, anxiety, loss of joy, diminishing of our faith, and the realization of our fears. And rightly so. If God withholds His blessings and joy, in an effort to discipline us and get our attention, this is what we can look forward to. Do we think lightly of the value of joy and encouragement? Do we value a life free from anxiety and fear? What would you give in exchange for your confidence and faith before God? Personally, I can’t imagine living life without confidence before God, and yet, when we sin in areas of immoral failings, we certainly can’t have confidence before God, not in the way I think of it.
When we choose pornography instead of obedience we give up hope of Him answering our prayers (Psalm 66:18, James 5:16), unless of course those prayers are ones of genuine confession and repentance (1 John 1:9). It is interesting to note how much in the Psalms the basis for crying out to God and hoping in Him is the fact that the psalmist walked in his integrity and kept himself from evil. Note in Romans 5:3-5 that the progression is tribulation, perseverance, proven character, hope. If we don’t persevere through trials and temptations, if we sin and stumble into immoral behaviors, how can we expect God to bless us and answer our prayers? I believe all immorality, including viewing pornography and indulging in lustful fantasies, directly attacks our faith, hope, and love. We become like Adam in the garden, wanting to shrink away and hide from God, and our fears are multiplied and realized. That is what the immoral person can expect.
- Emptiness, loneliness, distance from the Lord, distance from others, isolation.
Along the lines of discouragement, anxiety, fear, and a loss of faith and joy come emptiness, loneliness, and distance from God. What a joy it is to feel close to God, to experience His peace, to sense His encouragement and strength in our souls. That intimate fellowship with Christ is the only thing many of us have to look forward to in life. Immorality in our hearts interrupts that fellowship, it destroys that communion we enjoy with God when we are walking in obedience to Him. What price do you place on the presence of Christ walking with you and holding your hand in life? What value do you place on being filled with the Spirit? Would you sell out for a cheap thrill of the flesh, that passes as quickly as it arrives? Some of us experience loneliness in this life already, and how much more so if we alienate our only True Friend!
And pornography divides families and drives a wedge between people. It does not bring couples together, and it destroys unity, intimacy, and trust. Who wants to be close to someone who has no self control and is unfaithful in mind and body? Those who indulge in immoral lusts of the flesh and the mind have only one thing to look forward to: loneliness, emptiness, distance from the Lord and others, and isolation.