For even as the woman is out of the man, thus the manis also through the woman, yet all is of God
Paul to the Corinthians (1) 11: 12, Concordant New Testament
Anyone who has suffered through an addiction to pornography knows the lens through which we view those of the opposing sex. We see them not as valued children of the Lord, but as objects for our own gratification. I was reminded of this once again this week as someone I know made the mistake of thinking within the desires of his flesh and not in the truth of his own identity. I get it, I've been there more times than I can count. The very reason that the porn industry is so profitable is that it plays to our own desires. I've never seen a pornography video that spoke to the reality of who we are in the Father. What I have seen is the presentation of both women and men into objects of our desires. When I speak of this, I know what the hell I'm talking about because I've been there. When my friend approached me this past week telling me that he was intending to ask a certain young lady on a date, my first advice to him was DON'T. Not because I didn't want him to have companionship, that wasn't the issue. The fact that he is already married negates the issue of companionship. No, I advised him not to go down that road because I already knew where it would lead him. I've seen countless others, including my own father, make the mistake of seeking intimacy from another person. It never ends well. So it is with my friend, who has become the latest victim of the lie which is pornography. The lie which tells us that we deserve to be satisfied. the lie which tells us that we deserve to be rewarded with the companionship of another for the purposes of sexual intentions. As a believer, I know in my heart that this is not what God has intended for His children.
In the darkness of my own addiction, my only thought was of what I wanted. How I needed to be satisfied. Never were my thoughts about what the Father desired for me. That's a problem. For I see this behavior in my friend, and it makes me sad. In my heart, I know that the path which he is on is not beneficial for him. But he has chosen to believe in the lie I once found to be so attractive. Yet the truth we have in the Father is so much better. To live within His desires for us is a life lived the way it has been created to be from the beginning. God did not create us in his own likeness that we would see others only as objects of our own desires {Genesis 1:27}. When I look at someone who has been happily married to their spouse for a good number of years, I all too often see a happy union. Yes, there are trying times with any marriage, but this is part of the growing process. While I was in my addiction, I rarely saw a female as anything but someone to satisfy my own desires. But I was a hypocrite, for whenever I saw someone engaging in that same behavior that I was, I immediately accused them of violating somebody's wife, child or daughter. It took a good number of years until I finally realized the truth of the man that I was, and that I was seeing others in the wrong light. For Gods creation are not simply the objects of my desire, but His loved children. We cannot proclaim ourselves as His child and yet see others as simply put on this earth for our enjoyment, it doesn't work that way. The truth of our life in the Father is that He has created us in his likeness, male and female {Genesis 5:2}. It is the accuser who has spoken the lie that we can be our own individual self {Genesis 3:1-6}. It is also the accuser who spoke to me that I deserved to be satisfied by another.
Yet if they are not controlling themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to be on fire
Paul to the Corinthians (1) 7: 9, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment