‘Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.’ Hebrews 13:4(NLT)
‘Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. ‘ Ephesians 5:3(NLT)
‘But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. ‘ 1 Corinthians 8:9(NLT)
‘Run 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. Don’t you realize 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, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.’ 1 Corinthians 6:18-20(NLT)
‘So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.’ Matthew 5:29-30Matthew 5:27-28(NLT)
‘“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ‘ Matthew 5:27-28(NLT)
‘The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.’ 1 Corinthians 10:13(NLT)
‘If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.’ 1 John 1:8-10(NLT)
‘Stay away from every kind of evil.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:22(NLT)
People spend months planning for their wedding but sometimes neglect to make marriage planning a priority. We may attend a premarital class or talk with the minister who performs the wedding, but we often don’t really open up about what issues we may be bringing into the relationship. We may not even be fully aware of how our habitual thoughts and behaviors could threaten our unity.
Because the marriage bed is God’s standard for sexual intimacy, it’s also the place that suffers most when sexual baggage is brought into a relationship. Whether it’s from a promiscuous past, sexually-charged music, racy novels, unhealed wounds from abuse, or exposure to pornography — any source of sexual stimulation outside the context of your marriage is a dangerous threat. No matter how harmless you’ve convinced yourself it is, if you’re keeping it a secret from your spouse, you’re closing the door to intimacy and opening the door to adultery.
Are you willing to build a barrier together to keep those threats out? Are you willing to limit your freedoms to keep you strong against temptation? Are you willing to be transparent with your schedule, your conversations, or your online interactions? Do this when you’re strong to protect yourself when you’re weak. Ask God to show you your weaknesses — then shore them up.
Will lines be crossed? Will failures happen? Almost certainly. Deal with issues as they arise. Ask God to forgive you. Ask your spouse to forgive you. But fight to stay pure. Purity matters.
Let’s pray together: Jesus, You paid such a high price to make us clean and new. Only You can make us pure in Your sight. Help us have the courage to stay pure. Give us the strength to forgive and to protect our hearts from the damage of sin. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
from From This Day Forward by Craig & Amy Groeschel