Video #24 - Abstinence: The Way of Life!

Our current focus in this Freedom from Porn series is on how to prevent a spiritual heart attack. 

A person who has a heart transplant is instructed by their doctor to stay away from certain things if they want their heart to be (and remain) healthy.  For example, smoking raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of stroke.  The chemicals and compounds in a cigarette can harm not just your lungs, but your heart as well.  To ignore the doctor’s warnings and partake anyway could mean serious damage to the heart and thus directly impact your life in a negative way.

As a born-again believer, you have been given a heart transplant (Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26).  Your Great Physician, God Himself, has given you a similar instruction – stay away from certain things if you want your spiritual heart to remain healthy.  For example, Paul instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 ... “this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.”  Could the Savior of your soul be any clearer?  To protect your spiritual heart, totally abstain from what Peter called the “passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Pet. 2:11)

When we look at porn, when we lust in our heart after another person, when we fantasize and masturbate, when we allow our thoughts to dwell on sexual impurity  -  we are injecting our new heart with a terrible poison.  We are training our new heart to focus on and yield to the sinful desires of the flesh instead of the godly desires of the Spirit.

Guys - we need to abstain, totally and completely.  Let me explain:  To abstain from something means you are restraining yourself (you’re keeping yourself) from indulging in that which - although giving the appearance of being good for you - can be harmful to your well-being.  Think about that for a moment.  To abstain from something requires effort.  To abstain means you are forcibly holding yourself back from doing something your flesh desperately wants.  In Romans 7:15-25 Paul describes that as an ongoing battle that made him absolutely miserable.  That’s a battle we also fight – one to which we must never give in.

The fact is, your flesh will always crave pleasure.  This is because your flesh is still governed by sin.  Paul said, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Rom. 7:18).  The fact is, with the flesh we will always give in to sin (Rom. 7:25).  We will always yield to “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” (Gal. 5:19). 

But guys - if you know Christ as your savior, if you “belong to Christ Jesus” - you “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Rom. 6:6). In other words, YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIN!  You don’t have to look at porn.  You don’t have to lust.  You don’t have to masturbate.  If you are a born-again believer in Christ, then you must “consider (your flesh) as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed” (Col. 3:5).  Don’t let it rule over you.  You don’t have to sin!

Jesus described the flesh as being weak (Matt. 26:41) and of no help at all (Jn. 6:63).  Paul warns us in Romans 8 that when you live according to the flesh, your mind will be focused on what the flesh wants (Rom. 8:5).  Whenever your mind is set on getting what the flesh wants, you are going against God (Rom. 8:7) and nothing you do will please him (Rom. 8:8).  You are damaging your new heart.

So I challenge you - I dare you ... I triple-dog dare you:  Take care of the new heart God has given you!  Stay away, far far away from lust, pornography, masturbation and all the other areas and aspects of sexual impurity.  Don’t even let a hint of it into your life (Eph. 5:3).  The only way - guys, the ONLY way to ensure a healthy heart is to totally, unreservedly and at all times abstain from all forms of sexual immorality, refusing to follow any form of the passions of the flesh. 

Philippians 4:13 promises you that in Christ ... You can do this!

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About Steve Etner
Steve Etner is a National Men’s Speaker, Author and Purity Coach (www.thepuritycoach.com). He has authored many books, including “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Habits into God-Pleasing Patterns of Life”; “The Pure Man’s Devotional Guide: A Biblical Toolbox for Purity”; and “Are You A Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” 

Steve’s conferences, seminars and retreats focus on what God has to say about the way we think and the impact it has on our behavior. By teaching men how to live in moral purity by equipping them with Biblical answers, Steve’s goal is for men to have a re-ignited passion for Jesus and learn how to prepare their minds to successfully overcome their temptations and thus live pure lives for Christ.