I read a great article this morning from J. Lee Grady. It talks about staying pure in our times. Don't think that just because you're married you don't need to read it.
I do not think we can be too diligent in protecting ourselves, our spouses, children, and churches. One of the pastors at my church has recently fallen away because of sexual sin. He was an all-around nice guy and loved by all. Believe me, if can happen to him, it can happen to you.
I think that most of us are more like Samson than like Joseph. We think, "Oh, I can step on that line. I'm not tempted to sin in that area so it's OK for me to go there." Or "I can go to lunch with that man/woman, we're just friends."
I know it's fun to step close to the line; you get that little thrill of looking over the edge without jumping. But if you're teetering on the line, there's no difference between falling or jumping, you still go over the line and take your spouse, children, friends, and church with you.
Young husband, protect your wife, self, and marriage fiercely, with all the manhood you can muster. Don't fall for the enemy's lies of compromise.
Are you a father? Protect your daughters and sons with the ferocity of a cornered lion. Don't buy the lie that "they're going to learn this stuff anyway." My children know about some of the horrors that sex, lust, and sin have visited on the world, but they learned it from some awkward and unpleasant conversations that they had with me and their mom, not from TV or some kid on the playground. Sometimes, our kids will ask us about something and we'll tell them "you don't need to know that right now. I promise I'll tell you about it when you're older, but not now."
For some reason, many men seem to have forgotten or never learned that one of our primary roles is to protect the family. Mothers and wives, pray for your husbands, that they would take the leadership that is theirs in this situation.
1Posted by Timothy Lindberg on 2/18/2009 1:25:53 PM
Very good Mark. I think you have this Man thing down right. It is important to protect our, OUR, family! Women and men.
2Posted by Thomi Wilson on 2/19/2009 2:55:04 PM
Hey man...well said. A resource that has been very helpful to me is XXXCHURCH.COM. They have an online video/counseling available, free accountability software and links to some good filtering software.
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