You Can’t Conquer it if You Don’t Call It | Genesis 39:9

You can tell a lot about a man by what he calls his sin. One man admits to visiting strip joints, while another man says he frequents gentlemen’s clubs. One man says he visits porn sites, while another tells you he views adult entertainment online. One man confesses to watching peep shows, while another man says he follows webcam models.

Some men refuse to name their sexual immorality. They couch their sin in euphemism and abstraction so that it doesn’t sound as bad as it is. But other men refuse to do this. One of them is Joseph. He’s the fellow who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. You read about him in the book of Genesis. Joseph didn’t struggle with sexual sin, but he did have a problem with a married woman who kept inviting him, day by day, to have sex with her. This woman was also the wife of his boss. When she tempted Joseph, this is what he said in reply:

“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?”

Genesis 39:9

Joseph doesn’t tell his temptress that she is soliciting him to play around, or two-time her husband, or engage in extracurricular activity. He doesn’t call it a fling, or some hanky-panky, or an affair. He doesn’t even call it cheating. No, Joseph confronts her to her face and names the proposed activity for what it is—a great wickedness.

This is the road to victory over sexual temptation. You must first name the sin behind it. Don’t obscure your sin with soft-sounding phrases. Don’t call it what the world calls it. Give it a biblical name. Call it what God calls it. Then you can work to get free of it.