God's Word speaks boldly to a society wallowing in sexual sin.
1) Our holiness forbids the mention of "lewd conduct or promiscuousness or lust of any sort" (Eph 5:3).
2) Not only obscene but silly or suggestive talk is out of place (Eph 5:4).
3) We should replace such talk with words of thanksgiving (Eph 5:4).
4) An unclean or lustful person is in effect an idolator (Eph 5:5).
5) No lustful person "has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5).
6) People will use "worthless arguments" to deceive us about sexual morality (Eph 5:6).
7) Sexual sins "bring God's wrath down on the disobedient" (Eph 5:6).
8) We are to "have nothing to do with" sexual sins (Eph 5:7).
9) We are to go to extremes to resist the temptation to look lustfully (Mt 5:28).
10) "Whoever rejects these instructions rejects, not man, but God" (1 Thes 4:8).
The Lord not only commands us to resist sexual temptations but gives us the grace to do so. By His grace, we can be pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I be "pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rv 14:4). |
| PROMISE: | "Should not this daughter of Abraham here who has been in the bondage of Satan for eighteen years have been released from her shackles on the sabbath?" –Lk 13:16 |
| PRAISE: | Jane and her godly friends dress alike, modestly (see 1 Jn 3:3). |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College