12 July 2006

study @ frank's - "what men want"

my notes from dino rizzo's teaching this morning on how to avoid caving in to sexual temptation:

One of the keys to living a God-honoring life is knowing yourself. Knowing what you need to be careful with – know your edges – know what makes you come alive – know what tempts you. Know how to control yourself.

Coach McCartney – I was bragging to him about the men of our church – how they are willing to serve and sacrifice…. He asked me if I really know the men. If I really know my own heart. Always remember when you’re gathered in a group of men – they are not all clean. And there are a lot of times in your own heart that you aren’t clean. Below the surface every type of sin is going on. There are lives that are out of control in areas of passion. Men are struggling with stuff – and often we don’t see it but it can be there – and usually is when there’s a group of men gathered – chances are that there’s a bunch of sin represented there.

This is not a “the guy over there” message. This is for all of us.

Talking about sexual temptation. Every man deals with some level of sexual temptation – if not careful can lead to tampering with sexual sin – and that can lead to some type of sexual addiction.

I asked the question – “Why do men struggle with this?”

Is it finding worth?
Escapism?

Bondage. That’s the bottom line. The devil wants to put God’s men in bondage.

I Cor 6:12-20 nlt
12You may say, "I am allowed to do anything." But I reply, "Not everything is good for you." And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. 13You say, "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them. But our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 14And God will raise our bodies from the dead by his marvelous power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. 15Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which belongs to Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16And don't you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one." 17But the person who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Sexual immorality has a Velcro-effect to it. it sticks.

Proverbs 6:26-29
25Don't lust for her beauty. Don't let her coyness seduce you. 26For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, and sleeping with another man's wife may cost you your very life. 27Can a man scoop fire into his lap and not be burned? 28Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? 29So it is with the man who sleeps with another man's wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. 30Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. 31But if he is caught, he will be fined seven times as much as he stole, even if it means selling everything in his house to pay it back. 32But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. 33Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot. His shame will never be erased. 34For the woman's husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy in his day of vengeance. 35There is no compensation or bribe that will satisfy him.

You just can’t fool with it – you can’t “fool around” and it not have some sticky, lasting effect on you.

1. we’ve got to guard our hearts
2. we’ve got to watch our hearing
3. we’ve got to guard against the eye-droppers of lust (it blurs your vision)
4. Don’t let your spiritual life become stale. Be careful to keep the walk with Christ fresh and tender.
5. Be careful what you allow to be close to you in your world. What do you grant access to? Who to you give access to your life? Avoid the dangerous things.
6. Keep your steps holy.

Scripture is an asbestos suit against the XXX flames of the culture we live in?

A dude asked me the other day – what do YOU do about it – to avoid from sexual immorality?

Here’s what I thought about that I do:
1. I try to keep the fire at the house running hot. (requires the right type of fuel – she may not burn the same grade of fuel that I do – learn your wife’s fuel and keep a bunch of it on hand)
2. Keep filters in your life (lots of ways to be accountable) – on your computer, in your travel, at work – have friends watch you
3. Stay fully alive – have other outlets, other activities in your life besides work. Constant work, rough, tough, tired – can step into a wasteland in a hurry. An idle mind will be a place where the devil will drop a sexual temptation into.
4. Ten commandments of sexual purity – get them, know them, live them.
5. Have a lifestyle of spiritual pursuit – fasting and prayer and consumption of the Word – helps you see sexual temptation for what it is.
6. Start today – repent, pick up and start today.

4 comments:

Jason Guidry said...

Wow Dan, that is really good! Lust is a big issue with men. Heck, I struggle with it everyday! And the way girls dress doesn't make it easier.

-Jason

theinnerprocess said...

I just wish I could have been there! Thanks for sharing the notes!!!

Anonymous said...

You know, speaking as a committed wife, committed mother, and committed to Jesus, this is just so hard for me to grasp. I guess it is the word "all" that is hard to grasp.

Anonymous said...

Hey dan, just wondering what the 10 commandments of Sexual purity are, and where can I get ahold of them?

-Curtis