I have to admit it was a bit uncomfortable, watching a tv show with my teenage daughter about a Christian teenager contemplating intimacy with her boyfriend. As the girl's friend attempted to dissaude her from moving ahead with her plans, the girl fired back with every argument in the book. Finally she ended the conversation saying that she had been praying about it and came to the conclusion that since God is love, that He would not have a problem with her expressing her love for her boyfriend physically.
Cut to commercial...thankfully.
I quickly muted the tv and asked my daughter what she thought about that last comment. She said that she completely disagreed with it because she believed that what the girl was about to do was a sin.
I was glad to hear that, but I decided I needed to take my daughter a little deeper. I wanted her to realize how easy it is to rationalize sin, any sin. We can creatively come up with just about any argument to support our decisions, and we must be aware that there is an enemy who desires nothing more than to prey on our human desires and weaknesses in order to lead us into sin. 1 Peter 5:8 says it best: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Doesn't that just give you the creeps?
I asked my daughter this question: "If you have been praying about a decision you need to make, do you think God would give you an answer that would lead you to do something that goes against his Word?"
Her answer was no, and she was right. The problem is, too often we don't bother to find out what exactly his Word has to say about it. We come up with our rationalizations that sound perfectly logical, just like the girl's comment on tv. I told my daughter that's why it is so important if there is any question in your mind about whether or not something is right or wrong, then don't do it. Go first to the Bible and see how your thoughts and rationalizations stack up against God's Word. If they don't fall in line and you proceed with your plans anyway, then do so with the knowledge that you are acting in disobedience to God, and disobedience to God is nothing other than sin.
We all face temptation in one form or another every day. The good news is that we don't have to face it alone. According to 2 Corinthians 10:4, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds."
God is on our side, and He has graciously given us his Word as an aresenal against the enemy. We just have to be willing to put it to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment