Value Your Body
ICS Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NKJV) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
God created sex for procreation, communication, pleasure, and release. However, everything that is meant for good can be perverted by the devil. Therefore, there must be parameters when it comes to sex. Like fire, it is only safe with parameters and dangerous when left unattended.
There is a secular worldview on sex that is bombarding us on mainstream and social media. It tells us that it doesn’t matter what we do with our bodies, but sex does matter because it tells us what it means to be human. If we believe that our bodies don’t matter, we will act as though our bodies are free to be used and open ourselves up to being used and abused. We may also see the body as something that can be bought at a price, like a drink or a meal. Such thinking is behind the media’s portrayal of women as sex objects.
Matthew 5:28 (NKJV) But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Pornographic and suggestive videos are widespread on social media. Both genders can be addicted to pornography, which can lead to other vices. It is the result of the lust of the eyes and the flesh. According to Matthew 5:28, adultery has already been committed in thought by watching pornography without engaging in sexual acts. Pornography belongs to the realm of darkness. The chances of committing adultery with someone will increase when our minds are filled with pornographic materials because it will develop into a stronghold in our minds. It may even cause some people to request unnatural sex acts from their spouse, which in turn causes them to be repulsive towards having sex.
Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV) Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Cohabitation before marriage is also a form of fornication. Because we are made with emotions, fornication—especially if it ends in separation after a prolonged period—can do long-term emotional damage to us.
Sexual morality is not outdated, and sexual ethics help us to understand what God created us to be. Our bodies matter, and our emotional health is essential because we are priceless. Choosing to have a healthy sex life within a marriage brings sexual relationships to a whole new level as compared to the secular worldview.
Sermon Series ： Before You Say I Do
