May 14th
26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV
22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:22-25 NKJV
God made men and women in his image and likeness. It should not surprise us that Satan uses pornography to degrade God’s image and enslave people in lust and idolatry. Once people start looking at porn, they can easily be drawn in to pursue the lust and eventually might seek out people to act out their fantasies with.
Paul’s comments in Romans show how our natural sin tendencies can easily lead us into worshiping and serving images instead of God. Some people feel that this could never happen to them and some treat pornography as a harmless way to entertain themselves. It’s important to remember that our sinful nature is deceitful. It has a powerful way of lulling us into accepting sinful attitudes as though they weren’t a problem in our relationship with God.
We find out if we are really in control when we try to stop our sinful habit completely. Lust is one of those evils that won’t react well to not being fed. It’s very likely that it will drive us to maintain or increase our porn habit if we let it.
The road to breaking free of porn and other sexual addictions starts with our relationship with God. Through faith in Jesus Christ, God fills us with his Spirit, which empowers us to make the right decisions in putting our addictions and sinful passions to death (see Romans 8:11,13). With God’s help, we can start to see the people around us as God’s creations bearing God’s image and likeness. We can then learn how to treat his images with respect, instead of degradation.
Questions for further thought:
How are we instructed to use our bodies for God? (Romans 12:1-2)
Who gives sin power over us to enslave us? (Romans 6:12-14)
In light of verse 25 above, why is it important to stay grounded in the truth of God’s word?
Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for creating me in your image. Please forgive me for filling my eyes and mind with images that dishonor you. Please wash my mind with the blood of Jesus and heal me from the damage that was done to my mind as a result. Please restore in me respect for the human body and help me to develop healthy eye habits. Thank you, Father! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”