Pornography is so pervasive and so powerful that you may blame others for your sin. You blame the neighbor or relative who introduced you to porn as a boy. You blame the pornographers for making their product so readily available. Or the women at your work who dress so immodestly. Or the brands that use female nudity to pitch their products on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
But if you want to blame anyone for your habitual sexual sin, just look for the reflection of the man on your smartphone screen or computer display. He’s the one responsible for your predicament. No one else.
Job knew this. This father, husband and businessman lived in the land of Uz (modern–day southwestern Jordan and southern Israel) around 1520 B.C. Despite his immense wealth and reputation for being a blameless and upright man who feared God and shunned evil, Job was tempted to look lustfully at young women. You know this because, in the book of the Bible that bears Job’s name and tells his story, Job declares:
“I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman?”
Job 31:1
Job was tempted to lust after young women, but he didn’t blame the women. He didn’t blame his culture. He didn’t blame his wife. He didn’t blame the media of his day. Job didn’t blame anyone. Instead, he took responsibility for his temptation. He made a covenant with his eyes, not to look at young women. That is, he made an agreement, a contract, between himself and his eyes to not commit sexual sin.
You and I know that Job owned up to his temptation and took responsibility for his actions by how he describes the remedial action he took. “I have made a covenant with my eyes,” he says. Take note of this, because this is the start of your path to victory. He starts with “I.” “I have a problem.” “I am tempted.” “I have made a covenant.”
If you want to conquer habitual sexual sin, learn this vital lesson from the life of Job. Admit that you are the man in the monitor, the man responsible for looking at porn. You are the man who must confess your sin, repent, and ask God’s forgiveness. You are the one who must flee sexual immorality, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.
You may get help from others along your journey to sexual purity, from books, therapists, support groups, maybe even this blog. But others are not responsible for your temptation, or your sin, or your Christian walk, or your recovery. Your sin and your sanctification are down to just one person—you.
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