Video #5 - Are You All In?

Why do you do the things you do – make the choices you make?

Almost everything we do has a driving force behind it.  You eat because you’re hungry, you sleep because you’re tired, you bite your fingernails because you’re anxious about something and so on.  Even our sinful choices have a motive behind them.

For many years I THOUGHT I wanted victory in my life.  I was under the impression that my deepest desire was to be free from the vice-grip that lust, pornography and masturbation had on me.  Yet my actions and life-choices said otherwise.  Don’t take me wrong, the “desire” for it was definitely there, but I was enjoying the perceived pleasures of my sin way too much to take it any further than that.  There was still a part of me that just didn’t want to let it go.  I didn’t want the victory more than I wanted the sin.  And so, the battle raged on for over 30 years.  As a result, I experienced ongoing defeat and discouragement instead of a life full of victory and joy.

Now, let me ask you this: do you want,  do you truly long – even ache deep in your heart – for genuine, life-changing victory no matter the cost?  For the sake of this discussion, I will assume your answer is yes.  So, here’s my next question:  What reason should we have for wanting a victory that will help us actually win the war against sexual impurity and put that ol’ dragon down?

The first thing we need to address is that it’s not about you!  It’s not about YOU having victory, or about YOU winning the war, or even about YOU being pure.  Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:31 that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you are to do it ALL for the glory of God.”   We will never be successful in finding freedom from our struggles with impurity until our primary reason for wanting it is so that our victory … and ongoing purity will bring all the glorious attention to God.

As long as it is about Me, then I will snatch the glory for myself when the battle is over.  “Look what I did, look at all that my hard work accomplished!  I deserve this victory!”  That is precisely what God wants us to avoid.

A great example of this is found in the book of Judges chapter 7.  There we read of a man named Gideon.  Leading an army of nearly 32,000 men, Gideon’s about to charge the camp of the Midianites – a formidable army of 135,000 soldier.  Early in the morning, as Gideon stands outside his tent surveying the camp, God approaches Gideon and tells him he has too many men and that God wanted him to begin the process of whittling down his army until he is left with only 300 men.  Talk about poor odds.

Why did God do that?  What was His purpose?  If we could have listened in to that conversation, I wonder if we would have heard something like this:  “Gideon.”

… “Yes, my Lord.”

… “Gideon, you have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.”

… Gideon chuckles; a little surprised that God would show His sense of humor at a moment like this.

… Silence.

Nervously clearing his throat, Gideon says: “Umm, Lord?  Would you mind repeating that last order?”

… “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.  I want you to get rid of a large portion of your army.”

… Gideon tries not to look surprised.  The men were already worried about being outnumbered as they were, and rightly so.  They would surely doubt his ability to lead such a battle if he sent even a fraction of them home.

… “God?”  Gideon nervously asks, “May I be so bold as to ask why?”

Now listen carefully to God’s answer:  “You are to decrease your numbers in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (see Judg. 7:2).

Did you catch that?  God intentionally shrunk the size of Gideon’s army because He didn’t want Israel claiming glory for themselves after they had won the battle.  He knew that man struggles with pride.  He knew that the men would look at their handiwork and accept responsibility for the victory.

Never forget that God will always work only for His own glory.  If God is going to help you fight against the beast of impurity and win, it must be on His terms and for His glory, or He will not help you (Col. 3:17 cp. 1 Thes. 4:1; Prov. 25:27).

It is said of King Hezekiah, “In everything that he undertook … he sought His God and worked wholeheartedly.  And so he prospered” (2 Chron. 31:21).  Now prospering sounds like a good thing doesn’t it?  The word here literally refers to enjoying great success.  I’m pretty sure I am safe in saying that you would like to enjoy great success in this battle against lust, pornography and masturbation.  Am I right?

Listen closely guys; in everything you undertake, in every aspect of this war, you must seek God’s strength, God’s wisdom, and God’s glory.  For only then will you truly prosper.

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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.