“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” Romans 13:13 ESV
If you want to get victory over habitual sexual sin, such as pornography and masturbation, first realize that you won’t find sexual purity on any map. Sexual purity isn’t a destination you hope to reach tomorrow. It’s a walk you take today.
In Paul’s words, you must “walk properly as in the daytime.” That is, you are to walk honestly (KJV), behave decently (NIV), conduct yourself properly and honorably (Amplified). Your walk is to involve no orgies or drunkenness, no sexual immorality or sensuality, and no quarreling or jealousy. Your walk is to be different from those who live in darkness.
Just don’t expect to arrive at a place in your life where you experience zero sexual lust, zero sexual temptation or zero sexual fantasies. That place doesn’t exist, so don’t make it your destination. No amount of effort can ever get you there. Instead, look at sexual purity as a walk that you take with the Lord today. To “walk properly” means to conquer sexual lust, resist sexual temptation and overcome sexual fantasies today, not tomorrow. It requires you to spend today exercising self-control.
Self-control, after all, is what you are aiming for. Look at our text again. Drunkards have a problem controlling their alcohol consumption. The sexually immoral have trouble controlling their lust. And volatile people have difficulty controlling their tempers. What these people need is daily self-control. The alcoholic who wants to get sober, for example, is wise to concentrate on avoiding the bottle today, not on imagining a future free of booze. Victory over drunkenness (and sexual immorality) always starts with today’s morning alarm.
Your goal, then, is to walk properly today. Don’t aim to eventually conquer your sexual urges and temptations and sexual sins. Don’t think that working your way through 12 steps of recovery will one day land you at your destination with a halo waiting for you. You don’t have a destination. You only have your walk with the Lord today. And today’s walk involves no porn, no masturbation, no sexual immorality.
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