Theme:   Love Sex and Marriage - God's Design for Sex

This eDevotional was written by a volunteer from Timberlake Church.

READ:   Matthew 9:9-13; Matthew 5:28

THINK:  I was young man of 13 when Jimmy Carter made headlines by giving an interview to Playboy Magazine during the final weeks of the 1976 presidential campaign.  In the interview, Carter confessed that he had “looked on a lot of women with lust”.  There are at least two important lessons to be learned from this.  The first was personal to me; I never borrowed any of my father’s magazines again. 

The second is a truth that confronts us all.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equated lust with adultery (Matthew 5:28).  Sins of thought are still sins.  We are all sinners, and most of us have some sexual sin in our lives.  Now, it must be said that the present consequences of sin vary.  No one ever contracted an STD or got pregnant simply by thinking lustful thoughts.  But our character and our relationships are affected by what we think, even if we do not act.

There is another, much more pleasant truth the Pastor Ben spoke of on Sunday.  In Christ, there is hope for a future free from the sin of the past.  No matter what we’ve thought – or done – Jesus offers total forgiveness for our sin.  To the extent we allow, God will cleanse and heal us from the wounds of the past.  In Matthew 9:13, Jesus explains that His whole purpose in coming was to help us sinners.  We only need to accept that help.

DO:  Be conscious of your thoughts today, observing when you are tempted to dwell on unprofitable things and guiding your thoughts back to safe ground.

PRAY:  Father God, it’s hard enough to do the right thing, let alone think the right way.  I know that I can’t do it on my own.  So I’m asking for your help.  Show me the sins of my thought life, and guide me in exerting control over my mind’s wanderings.  In Jesus’ name, amen.