It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 (NIV).
Let’s hone in on ideas that are key to understanding sexuality. It is God’s will that we be made holy. It is God’s will that we avoid sexual sins. It is God’s will that we each learn to control our biological sexuality. It is God’s will that we continue to know Him in this way. God wills that we use sex in Godly ways.
Re-read the verses, then please re-read my take on them because these verses put the world at our feet. I’ll go further: they make our mastery of any addiction possible. What God wills in this world cannot be denied.
I’ve said it before: I worshipped sex. It’s part of the reason why I spent so much time in affairs. It was immaturity and sin. I put sex on a pedestal, mistakenly judging it as the ultimate expression of love in a relationship. Over time, I came to see it as just something you do when you’re with someone. I bought into the cheap grace of our society and turned a blind eye to the damage my selfish views did to other people. My wife paid for it. My kids paid for it. My friends, my church, my co-workers, even ‘the other women’ paid for my selfishness.
And that’s part of the sin delusion, you see. It’s not about me. It’s about Jesus. I didn’t, we didn’t pay for my selfishness: Jesus did. He paid for ALL of it, including the guilt, the nagging regrets, and the emotional regurgitation every time my pet sins nag at my psyche.
The key to getting back on the straight and narrow was Jesus. Without understanding that He and only He had done EVERYTHING I ever needed to change, I would still be mired in my immaturity and adultery. And let’s be clear: being in line with Jesus opens you to more of Satan’s attacks. He still tempts, he still tries. You need to resist in Christ.
Paul was teaching his friends that God willed for them to be sexually faithful, sexually pure, and humanly capable of mastering the same biological and emotional drives that face us now. It was God’s will, God’s plan, God’s determination that His people not be plagued by these attacks, that they revere Him in sex. If you’re suffering, then there’s hope for you. The first step in your recovery is going to Jesus and submitting to Him taking control. What Jesus wills for you won’t be denied. Without taking that step, you’re stuck.
For further reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:6.
Lord Jesus, empower Yourself through me to control my sexuality. Help me to worship You through this gift.
Practical Proverbs 