Superior Satisfaction
A sexual image lures my mind toward lust. The world, the flesh and the devil barrage me with messages: I will feel like a man or a woman; it will relieve my pain, disappointment, stress. I’ll be happier if I surrender.
God’s Word shows the lie for what it is. It tells me that real happiness can only be found in Christ.
I’m left with the choice—trust Satan or trust God.
I must choose between sexual fantasies and intimacy with God. I cannot have both. When I see that God offers me joys and pleasures that sexual fantasies don’t, this is a breakthrough. But that breakthrough will come only when I pursue God, making Him the object of my quest—and when I realize that fantasies are only a cheap God-substitute. Running to them is running from God.
When my thirst for joy is satisfied by Christ, sin becomes unattractive. I say no to the passing pleasures of immorality, not because I do not want pleasure, but because I want true pleasure, a greater and lasting pleasure that can only be found in Christ.
John Piper says,
The fire of lust’s pleasures must be fought with the fire of God’s pleasures. If we try to fight the fire of lust with prohibitions and threats alone—even the terrible warnings of Jesus—we will fail. We must fight it with a massive promise of superior happiness. We must swallow up the little flicker of lust’s pleasure in the conflagration of holy satisfaction.
Those who drink of immorality are never satisfied (John 4:13). Those who drink of Jesus are fully satisfied (John 6:35). I can either have my thirst quenched in Jesus, or I can plunge deeper into sin in search of what’s not there.
The rest of your life will be largely determined by how you answer this question:
Who will you believe?
The Purity Principle includes practical guidelines to protect purity, for singles, for married couples, and for parents who wish to train their children in purity. These include controlling the television and internet, and offering alternatives for how to spend our time. It also includes confession, repentance and developing biblical accountability that doesn’t just admit sin, but prevents it.
