For October 9, 2018
While experiencing extreme personal adversity, the biblical personality Job made the following confession:
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high? Isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?” (Job 31:1-3 NLT)
According to the experts, the personal, family and societal costs of pornography in the United States are staggering. In its wake, it leaves untold millions of individuals with false images of an unhealthy sexual “reality” that confuses, distorts, and hinders healthy interpersonal development.
Our personal and social sexual ideals become skewed as we (including children) share sexually explicit text messages. Our marriages fail as we renounce our marital vows by exchanging marital fidelity for the never-ending pursuit for sexual satisfaction based on distorted mental, sexual images. Our companies loose productivity and efficiency from a distracted workforce that spends company time viewing porn instead of performing assigned tasks effectively.
Research shows that every second 28,258 internet users are viewing porn, and $3,075.64 is spent on porn. Each day, 68 million porn searches occur, and 116,000 searches for “kiddie porn.” In addition, 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related, and about 200,000 Americans are addicts. 1
We tend to admire those who counter this trend; those who practice a life of personal self-control. Intuitively, we join in celebrating their moral fidelity, which contrasts the lack of sexual restraint accepted and encouraged by our “immediate gratification” society.
Sexual immorality has never been the identification badge that we as Christians display before the world. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to represent him with moral and spiritual purity.
Aware of the horrific danger of porn or sexual sin, Jesus uses graphic imagery to call for the discontinuance of all forms of licentious conduct in Matthew 5:27-30 (NLT):
“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
The Lord is not advocating self-mutilation. Instead, He is reminding us that our faith in His redemptive work allows Him to transform us spiritually from the inside out. Then as we allow Him to perform His perfect work in us each day, He can release us from the bondage of sin…including porn.
Following Job’s example, we too should endeavor to make an “eye covenant” with the Lord by inviting Him into our lives so that we can walk in in His Spirit. Then we can truly honor Him as we foster healthy interpersonal relationships while meeting our emotional and physical needs safely and appropriately.
- Please see: Internet Pornography by the Numbers; A Significant Threat to Society, accessed from Webroot, Inc., webpage online at: https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers, pornography poses a significant threat to families and society.