Committed Christians – devoted followers of Jesus – live in a culture steeped in sexual promiscuity. Anything goes… and it floods television, dominates the movie industry, the printed page does not escape it, and it is expressed openly on social media. Tragically this moral pollution influences the thinking and values of Christian adults, influences our youth, and contaminates the minds of our children. What to do? It’s everywhere!
I’ve long argued, that a desperate need within the church is a Biblical understanding of the human body – if you please, a “theology of the body”! This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read again a passage that provides a good starting point for that kind of theology! Here it is (and worth embracing as a part of our value system)…
“The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord – and the Lord for the body! … Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? … Flee from sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sin against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you? You are not your own! You were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body!” (From 1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
Oh, and here’s another one… “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your member to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (From Romans 6:12-14)
Personally, I intend to “present my body, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is my spiritual act of worship – I purpose not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I may be able to discern and demonstrate the good, and acceptable and perfect will of God!” (A devotional paraphrase of Romans 12:1-2)
And our children and youth? How’s this one…. “How can a young man (or woman) keep their way pure? By guarding it according to Your word!” (Psalm 119:9). Let’s do everything we can as parents and the Church to build a tall, impenetrable fence around the minds of our youth and children with the clear, healthy teaching of God’s Word.
Coffee With The Lord 