Not Gonna Be Popular

Titus 2:3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Dear young women of faith,

My heart grieves for you today.  For all of you who have fallen at the foot of the Cross, and given your everything to Christ, yet not everything. Your words boldly proclaim Jesus, and your love for Him is evident. Your reaching out to others, your enthusiasm in ministry, all shine forth. Why, then, is my heart grieved?  It cries out in sorrow for the loss of what was divinely yours. Your body.

Somewhere along the route of your history, you heard the lie. Then later, you believed it. Then, embraced it. Satan whispered in your ear that there was no forbidden fruit, that your body truly was your own, that God never meant what He said about sexual sin. "Hogwash", the devil said, "the Bible is old fashioned, and outdated, and everything it says about sins against the body, rubbish."

You, who have chosen salvation, you have given your "almost all" to Him. What you have done with your body, outside the confines of marriage, and after your confession of faith, is intentional sin. Sin that grieves the Father's heart, because it is done boldly, and makes a mockery of the blood that Jesus shed for you on the cross.  It rends the white garment, and creates a chasm between you and the Lord.

"Not guilty", you say. "What I do with my body is my business. I can worship God, live for Jesus, and still have sex with whoever I want. No big deal." Yes, it is, and I pray today that God convicts your heart, and that you repent, and stop making that choice. Confess it as sin, then make the relationship right by abstaining, or marrying, and if you can't do either of those things, say good-bye to your temptation.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.