I was listening to a sermon of John Piper’s recently on abstaining from sexual immorality. While hearing his words I was struck by how seriously the church needs this message today when pornography is so easily available on the Internet, in video rental stores and on newsstands.
The assault on our eyes is never ending. While standing in the checkout at Wal Mart the other night I had nowhere to turn but straight-ahead for all the magazine covers on my left and right that beckoned me to look at the flesh revealed there. Some of this we can avoid seeing if we are disciplined. Other visual pleasures that assault our senses are unavoidable. Much of what would lure us into a sensual feast in the mind and in turn rule our thought life is actually like eating garbage and we can and must flee those temptations.
Piper addresses these issues and more and mentions a resource of his called ANTHEM–Strategies for Fighting Lust. Satan is at war for the control of our minds and if he wins he will direct all our lives. That puts us in the middle of a battle and warriors need to be trained and equipped. Add to or begin your arsenal by reading or listening (I suggest both but the audio version has more comments added by Piper), use Piper’s ANTHEM and share these with others. This will help start us on or keep us on the right path and help keep our lives under the Holy Spirit’s control.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (NIV)