Greetings,
As Christians, even we are not above giving in to temptation and
committing sins against God. It is also unfortunate that temptation
can and does overwhelm us and some have given in to the temptation,
whatever it may be.
The most common example is sexual sin, which is probably the most
powerful and toughest temptation to fight. Who hasn't struggled with it?
I believe we all have and I would seriously question those who say they
haven't struggled with it.
In the Old Testament story of Joseph, we see an example of temptation
and how it was overcome.
Joseph was Jacob's son, whom he found favor with because he was the son
of his old age (Genesis 37:3) but that had caused jealousy among his brothers
so they conspired against him and sold him to the Ishmaelites who in turn took
him into Egypt. (Genesis 37: 27-36) There he was turned over to a high-ranking
official of Pharoah, whose name was Potiphar.
Now we go to Genesis 39 where Potiphar notices that the Lord was with Joseph
and that the Lord made everything Joseph did prosper in his hand (Gen. 39:3)
and because of that Potiphar made him overseer of his house (Gen. 39:4) and
God had blessed Potiphar's household for Joseph's sake. But alas, Joseph's
handsome features were not unnoticed by Potiphar's wife, who had longing
eyes for the young man, and tried to seduce him by saying, "Lie with me,"
(Gen 39: 7-12) but each time she said that he refused, stating to her how
her husband had entrusted everything to him and that he could not sin
against God. It was when Joseph was alone in the house going about his
chores that Potiphar's wife seized the opportunity to seduce Joseph but
when she caught hold of his garment, he simply fled her, leaving her holding
his garment as he ran away naked.
Potiphar's wife did not handle Joseph's rejection of her advances at all well
and decided to report a false rape charge against him to her husband and
the staff of the house. Joseph was imprisoned as a result but he decided
to risk false rape charges and prison than to sin against God by committing
adultery.
I believe Joseph was a great example of how Christian men today (and women,
too) should handle lust. Flee. Realize that the Lord is watching all that you do.
2 Timothy 2:22 says to flee youthful lusts. King David should have done the
same when he saw Bathsheba next door to his palace (2 Samuel 11: 2-27) but
he couldn't take his eyes off of her and gave in to his lusts which would effect
him badly from then on, and this was a man after God's own heart.
Flee temptation, cut it off at its source, nip it in the bud, or else suffer the Lord's
chastening. Get rid of reminders, too.
As a greeter of a conservative, evangelical church, I will say that I put myself in
a vulnerable position as I see everyone that comes in. I have had women who were
fair to look upon come to our church , fortunately though, they were not dressed
immodestly so thus far its been easy, but I constantly have to remind myself
that the possibility is there, and I must always guard my heart and be prepared
for that eventuality, because its going to happen one way or the other.
As a church servant contact (not physical) and communication is limited as far
as women and girls are concerned. I will not ever flirt, not even in jest, as flirting
can be extremely flattering. I know I will probably (if I haven't already) run the
risk of being considered cold and distant by some women. So be it then.
Many of the young women of my church I have known when they were much
younger than they are now, the daughters of my fellow men and it is knowing
that that has kept me from thinking anything impure about them. In fact I
don't even have the heart to think anything impure about them because of the
aforementioned reasons. So if any of my fellow brothers of my church read
this, rest assured your daughters are safe from me, and that you can bank on.
Thank you for reading and God bless.
Modelautoman
As Christians, even we are not above giving in to temptation and
committing sins against God. It is also unfortunate that temptation
can and does overwhelm us and some have given in to the temptation,
whatever it may be.
The most common example is sexual sin, which is probably the most
powerful and toughest temptation to fight. Who hasn't struggled with it?
I believe we all have and I would seriously question those who say they
haven't struggled with it.
In the Old Testament story of Joseph, we see an example of temptation
and how it was overcome.
Joseph was Jacob's son, whom he found favor with because he was the son
of his old age (Genesis 37:3) but that had caused jealousy among his brothers
so they conspired against him and sold him to the Ishmaelites who in turn took
him into Egypt. (Genesis 37: 27-36) There he was turned over to a high-ranking
official of Pharoah, whose name was Potiphar.
Now we go to Genesis 39 where Potiphar notices that the Lord was with Joseph
and that the Lord made everything Joseph did prosper in his hand (Gen. 39:3)
and because of that Potiphar made him overseer of his house (Gen. 39:4) and
God had blessed Potiphar's household for Joseph's sake. But alas, Joseph's
handsome features were not unnoticed by Potiphar's wife, who had longing
eyes for the young man, and tried to seduce him by saying, "Lie with me,"
(Gen 39: 7-12) but each time she said that he refused, stating to her how
her husband had entrusted everything to him and that he could not sin
against God. It was when Joseph was alone in the house going about his
chores that Potiphar's wife seized the opportunity to seduce Joseph but
when she caught hold of his garment, he simply fled her, leaving her holding
his garment as he ran away naked.
Potiphar's wife did not handle Joseph's rejection of her advances at all well
and decided to report a false rape charge against him to her husband and
the staff of the house. Joseph was imprisoned as a result but he decided
to risk false rape charges and prison than to sin against God by committing
adultery.
I believe Joseph was a great example of how Christian men today (and women,
too) should handle lust. Flee. Realize that the Lord is watching all that you do.
2 Timothy 2:22 says to flee youthful lusts. King David should have done the
same when he saw Bathsheba next door to his palace (2 Samuel 11: 2-27) but
he couldn't take his eyes off of her and gave in to his lusts which would effect
him badly from then on, and this was a man after God's own heart.
Flee temptation, cut it off at its source, nip it in the bud, or else suffer the Lord's
chastening. Get rid of reminders, too.
As a greeter of a conservative, evangelical church, I will say that I put myself in
a vulnerable position as I see everyone that comes in. I have had women who were
fair to look upon come to our church , fortunately though, they were not dressed
immodestly so thus far its been easy, but I constantly have to remind myself
that the possibility is there, and I must always guard my heart and be prepared
for that eventuality, because its going to happen one way or the other.
As a church servant contact (not physical) and communication is limited as far
as women and girls are concerned. I will not ever flirt, not even in jest, as flirting
can be extremely flattering. I know I will probably (if I haven't already) run the
risk of being considered cold and distant by some women. So be it then.
Many of the young women of my church I have known when they were much
younger than they are now, the daughters of my fellow men and it is knowing
that that has kept me from thinking anything impure about them. In fact I
don't even have the heart to think anything impure about them because of the
aforementioned reasons. So if any of my fellow brothers of my church read
this, rest assured your daughters are safe from me, and that you can bank on.
Thank you for reading and God bless.
Modelautoman
No comments:
Post a Comment