If you look at media today, the human body is used in a very sexual manner and is presented as a commodity. In the present (2016) I notice that music videos are so vulgar that a decade or two ago it would have been categorized as pornography. The lyrics of certain pop songs are so perverted. The intimacy shared among a husband and wife to celebrate their God ordered love, is sold on the street corners. Everything is sexualized; advertisements, clothing, you name it and this is a classic example of the devil or the prince of the air being in control of things.
Why is this over sexualization taking place? It is because unlike any other sin, sexual sins defile the body(3). See how satan attacks the very instrument that is meant to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God.
It is important to note here that God forgives all those who repent and if we have committed sexual sins and go before the Lord and ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive us. Those who have committed sexual sins are often ashamed of themselves. Don’t be – remember that all have sinned and gone astray. We all need Jesus and He knows that. There is hope for us sinners. I live because of God’s mercy. I am forgiven and cleansed by God. If God forgave me, He will forgive you. God does not favor anyone(4). He does not rate us as grave sinners and minor sinners. He loves us as we are because it is His nature to love. The love originates from Him(5) and not from us.
It might be important to discuss what some of the sexual sins are at this point because it is a key weapon that satan uses against us upon this earth and there is also a tendency to by media to downplay the gravity of sexual promiscuity and even make to appear trendy. This is a trap. Your body is the temple of God.
Fornication: The Oxford dines ‘fornication’ as having sexual intercourse while unmarried. This sin is so rampant and accepted that some even wonder if it is a sin. Well, for God’s people it is. When having sexual intercourse, the persons participating become one flesh(6) and it creates a tie and opens a channel for the transfer of spiritual things like curses and demons (that could be dwelling in a person(7)) between the persons involved. It gives satan a foothold in one’s life. Even if the sin is being committed by a male and a female that are planning to get married, still if they have not gone before God for their union to be blessed and approved by Him, they take the risk of giving satan legal grounds to destroy their marriage when they finally do get married. At the point where fornication is committed, satan may enter the relationship and remain dormant for years before he strikes to destroy the relationship and the lives of those involved. Don’t be fooled. Lose living and having many sexual partners may look like a great achievement in this world but it is actually a great loss. Don’t give the devil a foothold in your relationship even before it’s begun.
Adultery: Adultery is when one has sexual relations with someone other than their spouse. Everything that applies to fornication applies here as well. Satan has come up with the new concept of emotional faithfulness and physical faithfulness. There are many couples who now have open marriages where the spouses are allowed to have physical relations with others but have to remain emotionally faithful to their spouses. Polygamy, Androgyny and all sorts of alternative living arrangements are freely accepted and presented in media as the in thing where human liberties are upheld to the maximum. Little do people know that by engaging in such behavior, they are actually willingly going into captivity. Adultery destroys the lives of those involved and even God Who hates divorce allows it in the event adultery has been committed(8) – this should give some indication of the gravity of this sin.
Pornography: Pornography is so freely available and accessible even to children because of the internet. Even some regular programs that are on television can be rated as bordering on the lines of pornography. Can you remember what Jesus taught about being careful about what we look at(9)? What you see can corrupt your body. It can also corrupt your mind and cause you to be addicted which is equal to going into captivity(10).
Avoid these sins like the plague. If you have committed any of these sins, ask the Lord for forgiveness. If you are unable to give up any of these sins and it is proving to be difficult to do so, just say ‘Holy Spirit, I want to be released from this sin. I don’t know how to give it up, I don’t seem to have the strength. Please strengthen me and help me to honor God with my body’. If ever you find it difficult to pray or just feel down, just speak a couple of words to the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is ask and He will rush to help you overcome.
It is my observation that the rate sexualization of the media increased rapidly in the past couple of decades. I see it this as action targeting young minds in in an effort to draw away many from the embrace of God into the lake of fire. Our bodies are a gift from God and it is where He chooses to dwell. Keep your temple clean and be victorious on earth – Heaven is your destination.
Notes & Bible Verses
(1) 1Corinthians 6:16 - Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
(2) 1Corinthians 12:13 - Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
(3) 1Corinthians 6:12-20 - All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
(4) Romans 2:11 - For there is no partiality with God
(5) 1John 4:19 - We love Him because He first loved us.
(6) Genesis 2:24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
(7) Demons can dwell where the Holy Spirit does not. Some people do not believe in demon possession but there are many occasions of demon possession depicted in the Bible. For example, Mathew 4:24.
(8) Mathew 5:32 - But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
(9) Mathew 6:23 - But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
(10) Romans 6:16 - Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Walk with God……….
With God all things are possible(1) and Jesus meant it when He said that His burden is light(2). You will never face a trial that God will not give you the strength to be victorious over and what’s more He will stand with you and shield you from the storm.
Trust in Him to see you through the trials of this world and believe in His promises(3) found in His word (the Bible)….. Walk with God.
Notes & Bible Verses
(1) Mathew 19:26 - But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(2) Mathew 11:28-30 - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and l
earn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
(3) Mark 9:23 - Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Thank you for taking the time to read my simple book. I do hope that it helped you even in a small way.
I would like to receive your feedback. You can email me at [email protected]
I wish you all the very best in your walk with the Lord!
Natalie Okoro
Simple Truths on Godly Living for the Simple Hearted Page 5