Sanctified

1Thes 4:3-8
3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
(NIV)

One night I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and the kids wanted to watch TV. We rarely watch anything on TV because of the content of the shows. Well I gave in and said OK. After a couple of minutes I heard Donovan saying “That’s gross, why are they showing that. I don’t want to see this.” Donovan had turned around and buried his face in a blanket. And replied, “Tell me when it is over.” I quickly looked at the TV and it was a woman’s underwear commercial that was very provocative. I have to confess my son (9 years old at the time) had a stronger will then I did. He inspired me to look away and imitate his heart. I hope he has the same heart five years from now. To him that was not desirable. I guess that’s part of what Jesus meant when he said that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of God.

It is Gods will that we learn to look away from lustful things. Our children need to see us control our bodies in an honorable fashion. What we see goes into our mind and then into our heart. If we even fantasize about unholy things we are guilty of doing them. It is our personal integrity that is at stake. What will you exchange for your integrity? Is any sin really worth the pain? No one can take our integrity from us. Only by free will do we surrender our integrity and exchange it for sin. Next time you are confronted with temptation just imagine Satan standing in front of you with his hand out as to make an exchange with you. He has sin in one hand and is asking you to put your integrity in the other. Resist him and he will flee! Victory always taste better then defeat! “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8)