Soul Pollution

We have to guard against the corruption of our souls, the sinful thoughts and practices that will render us ineffective in our walk with Christ. 1st Peter 2 states:
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

There is a war for the hearts and minds of individuals, even those who name the name of Christ. The enemy, whose intent, according to Jesus in John chapter 10, is to steal, kill, and destroy, will attempt to fill our minds with suggestions that challenge our love for Jesus and our obedience to Him.  We have to recognize his ways and, as Proverbs 4 suggests, guard our hearts so that we are not held in bondage to the strongholds that the enemy would desire to erect in our hearts and minds.  We have the admonition and the resources to resist. 

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God calls us to walk in a manner that pleases Him, to live a Spirit-filled life and to reject the temptation that comes our way. We possess the power to do that, according to 1st Corinthians chapter 10, which says:
8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;
9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;
10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Sexual immorality is abhorrent to God, because it perverts His perfect plan and is destructive to human relationships.  Consider the hundreds of documented instances in which sexual abuse has occurred or at least is believed to have occurred, according to the report from the Southern Baptist Sexual Abuse Task Force.  This is a serious issue, and the Church must take every opportunity to stand against this immoral type of behavior. 

I came across a strongly-worded, well-researched article at Relevant Magazine recently, contributed by ministry veteran Ted Shimer, who has been involved with the ministry Student Mobilization and is the founder of The Freedom Fight, described as "an online porn addiction discipleship/recovery program."

Shimer relates this statistic: "Over the last decade, the percentage of American men between the ages of 18 and 30 who reported not having sex in the preceding year exploded from 10 percent to 28 percent." On the surface, that may sound encouraging, perhaps an indicator of a new wave of sexual purity?  Think again.  Shimer writes: "For a growing number of men alive these days in our 'pornified' society, their sexual desire for real women is being replaced by a desire for images and fantasy."  He states that, "Researcher and Sociologist Dr. Mark Regnerus blames porn for this new development..."

The author also highlights how this is impacting Christianity, writing:

The Barna Group discovered there is virtually no difference in the monthly porn use of non-Christian men (65 percent) versus Christian men (64 percent). Porn use is even worse among the younger Christian generation.

Shimer referred to his own organization's study; he states:

In 2019, the Freedom Fight conducted a survey of more than 1,300 Practicing Christian college students from over thirty different campuses across the country. The men and women we surveyed were involved in a campus ministry, and they considered their faith in Christ to be very important to them. Many of them were leaders in their ministries. What we found was alarming. Eighty-nine percent of the Christian men surveyed watch porn at least occasionally. Sixty-one percent view it at least weekly and 24 percent watch porn daily or multiple times a day. Fifty-one percent of these men said they were addicted to porn. These are our future Christian leaders, husbands and fathers.

He also relates that, "Porn use is also plaguing women in Christian colleges." He says that "Fifty-one percent of this group watch porn at least occasionally. Seventy percent of them either watched porn or had a sexual hookup in the last 12 months."

The souls of so many within the body of Christ are being corrupted by this tool of the enemy. The article continues:

The Bible is clear when it says, “fleshly lusts wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). The spiritual attack of fleshly lusts like pornography is able to be measured and countered. Sociology professor Samuel Perry researched the impact of pornography use on a group of 3,000 people over a six-year period of time. His peer-reviewed research shows that porn use wages war in at least three areas.

Those three areas where there is negative impact are: spiritual growth, marriage, and Kingdom service. 

But, Shimer stresses in a subject heading of the article that "There is Hope."  He writes:

If someone is going to overcome a porn addiction, they must outgrow it by developing in areas that address the roots of their addiction. How does someone outgrow porn? They must grow and develop in the following areas: personal holiness, renewing their minds and building new neurological pathways, breaking isolation by developing authentic relationships/accountability, learning to process emotions not medicate them, living out of an identity in Christ instead of a shame identity and replacing lies they have believed with truth. God’s truth is setting people free. Before it sets them free, it changes them. And because it changes them, the freedom lasts.

We serve a God who specializes in new things. His Word tells us that we are new creatures in Christ. His Spirit renews us and gives us power to overcome. Isaiah 43 states:
18 "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

And, later in verse 21, it says:
21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.

Do we want to really bring praise to God?  We do that by living in His ways. We declare his praise by surrendering our lives - inside and out - to Him.  We regard our bodies, as 1st Corinthians 6 says, as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  We commit ourselves to living with renewed minds, preventing the corruption of our innermost being.  God says to be holy as He is holy.  For the human mind, that may seem an impossible task, but through Christ, we can develop a love for Him, for His Word, and a love for knowing that we are pure before Him.  In an age of sexual liberality, which offers a counterfeit freedom, we can know the freedom of living in the Spirit.