Verse of the day:
Genesis 39:8-9 But he refused
and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he
has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept
back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and
sin against God?”
Joseph
proved to be a very honorable young man. He is far away from home, and out of the
watchful eye of his father, in a strange land where he could give in to the
idolatrous and sinful lifestyles of those around him; yet he held on to his
integrity in the very face of temptation. There is much to be said about a
young born again believer who refuses to compromise who he/she is in Christ
when they are away from home, the authority of parents, or within the
observation of their local church. This would also apply to us adults who can
also be good at putting on a façade when we are around other Christians, or
fellowshipping with other Christians. The real test of our integrity comes when
we are tempted, or tested, while we are away from those who would hold us
accountable, and the only One who sees us is God. Joseph faced one of the
strongest temptations that a man can face; the temptation to give in to sexual
sin. The Word of God has much to say about purity and avoiding sexual sin. 1
Corinthians 6:13 tells us that our body is not meant for sexual immorality, but
for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 6:18 tells us that we
are to flee sexual immorality as it is the one sin that we commit that is sin
against our own body. Sadly, man has ignored that command and has paid the
price in the form of all the sexually transmitted diseases, some of which are
killing people today. People who dabble in pornography end up becoming
addicted, resulting in marital relationships being destroyed, and leading
people to get involved in illicit sexual relationships that were meant only for
marriage. Let us not forget that Jesus told us that if we even lust after a woman
in our heart, we have committed adultery already (Matthew 5:28). There have
been many consequences that have come out of living with a lack of self control
when it comes to sexual sin. What kept Joseph from giving in to such a
temptation? He could have used his position in Potiphar’s household, and his
fear of losing that position, as his primary reason. Even though he does
mention what was entrusted to him by Potiphar, his main reason for avoiding,
and running from, this temptation, was that he would be sinning against God.
Sadly, too many of us rarely think about how our sinful actions will affect our
relationship with our God; and too often, we convince ourselves that our
spouses, people we are in relationship with, family, friends, church family,
will not find out what we did, so we give in. We justify our actions by
convincing ourselves that we did nothing that bad because, “After all, everyone
else is doing it, even other Christians”. May I remind us that society, our
Christian friends and family, are not our measuring stick for what sin is, or
what is not. Jesus, and the Word of God, is what we are to measure what is
right, wrong, sinful, or righteous. Joseph was willing to choose what was
right, and suffer unjust consequences in order to hold on to his integrity
before God, not before men. We, as God’s children, need to be more concerned
about what God sees about us than what man sees and thinks about us. Sexual sin
can cause us to stumble when we fail to set boundaries for ourselves,
especially if it has been a temptation that has overtaken us in the past. We
sometimes experience prolonged victory, but then become overconfident in our
ability to walk away. When we fall to it once again, we cannot understand why.
Yet, the Scriptures warn us in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed
lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to
man; but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Like Joseph, when God presents a way of escape for us, our response
should be to run if necessary. We will prove nothing other than the fact that
we are weak if we decide to test how strong we can be when it comes to sexual
temptation. If we truly want to live according to God’s will, then God can be
no clearer than what He recorded for us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 “For
this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from
sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel
in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do
not know God;”.
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