The other day I was scrolling through my pregnancy app when I came across a public post on pornography. The post included a poll where you were supposed to vote whether or not you were okay with your spouse engaging in porn. Looking at the results, 61% of these women were totally fine with it, 26% weren’t, and 13% said they didn’t care. I was immediately shocked and saddened by how many women were perfectly fine with their husbands engaging in an act that completely diminishes us as women and takes God’s intention for sex and throws it down the drain. I began to hate our society and the sin that has corrupted this modern-day age.
As we look at Proverbs 5, we see that this sin has been around since the beginning of time, not just in our society today. Lust has a way of perverting every aspect of our minds, and if we don’t look to Christ for help and satisfaction, it can very well ruin us.
Sexual Sin Will Destroy You
We are told numerous times throughout the Bible that sexual sin (sexual immorality) will eventually lead to death (Proverbs 5:5). Its sweet yet tantalizing effects leave us wanting more without ever becoming fully satisfied. We see this in verse 3: “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil.” Honey and oil signify physical delights meant to draw us in to temptation. Yet, the deeper we look into this sweet temptation, the more we see it’s just a bee waiting to sting its victim. This adulterous woman Solomon is warning us of definitely has a sting in her tail, and she will do whatever it takes to lure in and eventually kill her prey.
Sin lurks around the corners of our hearts, constantly whispering promises of joy and fulfillment if we give in. We, as Christians, must realize that sexual sin will destroy us. Solomon spends majority of chapter 5 making this point:
“But in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.” (vs. 4-6)
If we feel down and depressed, the temptation of looking at pornography increases. If we aren’t being fulfilled in our marriages, the more attractive adultery seems. Satan promises such temporarily pleasure will relieve us of our misery. He promises life through the things God promises will lead to spiritual and emotional death.
Thankfully, God has given us weapons to fight sexual immorality through His word and His saving grace. He warns us throughout Scripture because He loves us (1 Thessalonians 4:6), and we are reminded that every choice we make is before the Lord: “For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths” (v. 21). In the pit of our utmost despair when fighting sexual sin, we must cry out to God and plead for His help and forgiveness…for He already knows our struggles and temptations, even if no one else does.
Repel Sexual Temptation
Although we are in Christ, we are still human and will fall into temptation. We have to make it a point to fight off temptation every single second of our lives. Proverbs 5:7-8 warns us: “And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.” Whatever it is that is making you fall into sexual sin—cut it out of your life. It is not worth your eternal damnation for a few seconds of fleshy pleasure.
We are told in Matthew 5:29-30 that “if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” Dear Christian, do not take these words lightly—if Instagram is causing you to sin, delete it. If your iPhone causes too much temptation, get rid of it. If you can’t go on the Internet without being enticed, limit all access. You must guard your heart and your life. You must weed out the lies of Satan and believe God’s beautiful design for sex and intimacy.
Rejoice in Your Spouse
For those of you who are married or hope to be married one day, take Solomon’s words to heart:
“Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?” (vs. 15-19)
Sex is a beautiful design. It was meant for good—a satisfying pleasure between a husband and wife. And with Biblical sex, God will be glorified and the Gospel will be displayed through our marriages. But when we take this God-ordained gift and turn it into a fleshly and worldly desire, our souls deteriorate and are left feeling empty.
Men are to rejoice in the wife the Lord has given to them and to be fully intoxicated in her love. The two shall become one flesh (Mark 10:8), and we shall glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20). Living to honor God should be our main goal, not just in our marriages, but in every aspect of our lives. God gave us sexual relations to enjoy, and the only true fulfillment of this comes in His design for marriage. For the commitment we have to our spouses signifies Christ’s love for the Church…a love so grand it would die for all of our sexual immoralities and more.