(outline for Wednesday January 14)
I Corinthians 6:15-20
Central idea: Like money and power, sex presents a challenge to the disciplined life.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. I Corinthians 6:15-20 NIV
There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one." Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never "become one." There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. I Corinthians 6:16-20 The Message
Things you need to remember about sex:
- Sex is a powerful gift from God.
- Sex is to be discussed honestly and responsibly.
- Sexual intimacy is to be shared in covenant partnership between a man and woman.
- There are many distortions to sexual intimacy.
- Lust
- Adultery
- Fornication/Promiscuity
- Pornography
- Homosexuality
- There is no sexual sin that is described as unforgivable.
Summary: The powerful temptation and allure of distorted or displaced sexual expression can cause hurt and brokenness in your life and the life of others. To be faithful to God and to your covenant soul mate in your sexual expression, can be one of many ways you experience the abundant life.
