WEEK 6 LUST/CHASTITY

Transcription

1 1 WEEK 6 LUST/CHASTITY Immorality or any impurity must not even be mentioned among you. Ephesians 5:3 LUST: An intense or unbridled desire (usually sexual in nature); an intense longing or craving; enthusiasm or eagerness. Opening SONG / VIDEO These Alone are Enough by Dan Schutte 1. Take my heart, O Lord, take my hopes and dreams. Take my mind, with all its plans and schemes. 2. Take my thoughts, O Lord, and my memory. Take my tears, my joys, my liberty. 3. I surrender, Lord, all I have and hold. I return to you your gifts untold. 4. When the darkness falls on my final days, take the very breath that sang your praise.

2 2 Opening prayer Leader: We have confused the satisfaction of self-giving with the compelling need for sensual gratification We have used sexuality to manipulate and control others rather than as an expression of love and care We have been seduced by physical attractiveness and neglected the life of the spirit We have become complacent in tolerating the sexual abuse of women, children and the vulnerable in society We have settled for a lesser love rather than seek the love that will endure throughout eternity VIDEo: Bishop Robert Barron The stages of lust 1. Looking 2. Considering the possibilities 3. Enjoyment 4. Internal consent 5. Action Some ways in which lust manifests itself: Adultery Desensitization toward graphic images Promiscuity Pornography Physical or sexual abuse Violent acts toward children

3 3 Lie #1: Lust in the Scriptures: Genesis 1:27, The divine gift of sexuality, the ability for embodied persons to enter into relationship with each other and with God. (Adam and Even felt a need to cover their nudity.) Matthew 5:27-32, Jesus speaks to the root of the sin of adultery, which is interior lust. John 8:1-11, Jesus affords the adulteress the same dignity as her accusers. 1 Corinthians 6:20/Ephesians 5:3-7/1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, Paul addresses chastity and charity and proscribes lust. Song of Solomon boldly celebrates the sensual attraction of lover and beloved, culminating in the passion of spousal union. 2 Samuel 11-13, portrays the evil consequences of lust in the stories of David s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. All of my feelings are real and true. When we are caught up in desire, we feel as if we can t live without what we are lusting for. If we continue to believe in our feelings even when they are telling us we need something more than we need God, we will remain in the bondage of our sin. What we need is in the Word of God. His Word transforms our hearts and destroys the hold lust has over us and our thoughts and actions. What we need is God s truth to weigh against our feelings. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do Galatians 5:17 Lie #2: If I hide it, I am safe. As long as we hide it, God can t begin the healing. When we refuse to share our fight with lust with someone, it is usually because we have found a way to rationalize it and keep it to ourselves, or maybe we live in fear of failing or letting down God/others in our lives. Freedom comes when we expose our struggles to someone safe, someone grounded in God s Word and truth. Seek counseling and support as you need it. Never feel shame in seeking healing. God shapes miracles out of our mistakes. He is glorified in our weakness because His strength is revealed when we walk toward wholeness. I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh Galatians 5:16

4 4 Lie #3: If I pretend it didn t happen, it will go away. This sounds similar to the previous lie, but it is a little different. Some people not only don t speak about their sin, they actually tell themselves that nothing has happened. But consequences never stay buried. They reemerge in our behavior, our thoughts, our actions. Suppressing sin prolongs bondage. The sin won t go away, but it can be forgiven. Do not ignore the sin, but repent of it. If you fall again, repent again, but instead of focusing on the sin, focus on going deeper with Christ. Focus on His acceptance of you, His mercy for you no matter how many times you mess up, and His grace will help you resist the power of sin so you can change. Your relationship with Christ will eventually overcome the sinful desire. It will leave you! And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires Galatians 6:24 Lie #4: What I crave and what I desire will satisfy my deepest needs. No object, no person, no relationship can ever satisfy you the way God will satisfy you. You may feel a temporary satisfaction, but then you re left with shame, guilt, and depression. Remember that your particular longing is usually based on some type of insecurity, some lie you ve embraced along the way that says, You re not good enough. The lies say, Without these lusts being gratified, you are not going to be fulfilled. You are fulfilled through Christ and in Him alone. Spend time talking through the lies you ve believed about yourself or the pride you ve built up because you are trying to protect an image. Expose your heart and the humanity of who you are. This will help you overcome lies. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery - Galatians 5:1 Consequences of Lust: We re enslaved to sin. We believe our identity is the sin. We begin to believe overcoming is impossible.

5 5 Freedom actions: Expose the secret. Go to counseling; consult a friend; go to confession. Consecrate or set apart. Get away from that which causes you to sin. Accept & repent. Recognize your weaknesses; bring your desires to the cross. Forgive, forgive, forgive yourself! Press on and be healed as you let go of the sin. Set boundaries for all relationships. Keep s and letters impersonal. Don t talk about your partner negatively. Avoid situations which can cause lust to develop. Don t compare your spouse with others. Avoid flirting. Don t hide any relationship from your spouse. Chastity in the Bible: CHASTITY Blessed are the pure of heart (Matthew 5:8) 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Romans 13:13 Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. CLOSING PRAYER Take away then, Creator take away so much evil from your creature; if he is to give thanks that you made him; Lord, snatch your servant away from so much evil, if he is to rejoice to have you as his Lord. Spare, God, spare your sinner if he is not to despair of your goodness. For even if I have sinned more than the first sinner, I do not hate you as he does, nor detest your goodness. Then, by the great merit of your Baptizer, renew in me the grace of your baptizing. Go before me with your grace; follow me with your mercy. Give me back through the sorrow of penitence, what you gave me through Baptism. Give to me who asks, what you gave to him who knew you not. Refashion the face that I have spoiled, restore the innocence that I have violated. You, Lord, were not involved in that sin which you were born to bear. Lord, take away the sin that I have contracted in living. Take away you who take away the sin of the world, these which are sins of the world, which I carry from living in the world. Take away you who take away the sin of the world, by the merits of him who - with that same word of witness - pointed you out to the world, take away the sins that I have contracted in the world; take from me whatever is not from you, for I hate whatever is from me; and still I hope in you. -Saint Anselm

6 6 CLOSING SONG You Raise Me Up Rolf Løvland, lyrics by Brendan Graham. When I am down and oh, my soul, so weary, When troubles come and my heart burdened, be, Then I am still and wait here in the silence Until you come and sit a while with me.