Have you ever had a time when its like your eyes are opened and you see things that have always been there but you never say them before? It could be that you meet 5 people with the same experience, find multiple scriptures, hear 20 relatable songs, the Sunday morning sermon was exactly what you needed right then?
The Spirit is awesome, and He uses our moments of willingness to listen for whatever reason to share with us things that make our walk with God more meaningful, or bring to light something that could change our entire outlook on things.
God has done that for me lately, and while there is a sense of helplessness in the realization, I also feel so lead to share this so that Satan cannot lurk in the shadows of our ignorance any longer.
Over the past several weeks, my eyes have been widely opened to an area of weakness for the men in all of our lives. I have become aware of how lies that Satan has told has covered my eyes, and I believe a large majority of Christian women's eyes to the degree of power he can exert over them. And it makes me feel like a mama tiger ready to react!
The temptation of lust, and very specifically the action that can often come with it, pornography is a huge problem ..even, and especially for the Godly men in our lives.
Did you know that something like 85% of Christian men admit to this being a problem for them?
Lie #1 that Satan tells in this area...that Christian men dont struggle with this. That only "sickos" deal with this. That only "sex addicts" or men who cant control themselves participate in this.
Its a lie.
Now, let me be clear that mean NO disrespect to our men. I do not want to take away from the respect due the men in our lives, especially our husbands. But their very nature, Christian or not makes them very suseptible to Satans lies in this area.
God created them to be passionate. Sex is a symbol of the drive that is in them to make them want to provide for us, to pursue us, to create children with us, to love us. God made them that way.
And... every good thing that God creates, Satan can distort.
This God-created passion, this drive that our boys have leaves them vulnerable to attack. That coupled with the constant exposure to things that feed that desire (indeed, that is what it is..the sinful nature DESIRES it) for lust is a potentially spiritually fatal formula.
Relating to my reference earlier of how my eyes have been opened, I found out within a very short amount of time that there were several men in my life who struggled with this problem. These were men that I knew to be Godly men. They are Christian husbands, fathers, church leaders, teachers, deacons and elders in the church.They were friends and men I knew, loved and respected as fellow Christians. These are not "sickos" or people who you would think would struggle with this...if you think that it only happens to "certain kinds of men."
During that time I prayed that God open my eyes to see WHY is this such a huge problem? WHY is it SO powerful that it effects even these kinds of men? WHAT is it about this that is so compelling that I hear tears in wives voices as she describes how this problem has affected her family? HOW has Satan been allowed to become SO powerful that he can move into our homes, our churches and into the lives of the GODLY men around me?!
Girls...I was amazed at what I have realized the past few weeks. And I NEED you to know about it..because we MUST not allow our boys to be taken by Satan's lies in this area!
And he can.
Another lie that we have been told, that our boys hear from everywhere, that often even wives who are aware of their husbands activities tell themselves..is that it doesnt hurt anyone. That looking at pictures doesnt effect their minds long term. It is between themselves and the computer screen, thats all. That lust for someone other than their wife is NORMAL, acceptable and harmless.
With tears let me say, its not.
Uncontrolled lust is a very powerful tool for creating a rift (whether realized or not) between husbands and wives, potentially destroying families ...the cornerstone of God's plan for getting the most of us to heaven. It creates expectations that are unfair and unGodly for boys and men who arent married, as well as those who are. It sets up teenage boys and young men for selfish thinking, even before they come together with their wives for the first time. And most importantly, it creates a door for Satan to move around our homes.
The truth is is that our homes are protected by the God we serve. But, if the man of the house is bound by this problem, Satan is free to move about in ways we cannot even begin to know about.
Sisters, and sweet friends...please do not be blind to this area of weakness for our boys.
I dont want this to be so long that you dont want to read it, so I am gonna start another post.
Please keep reading, because the plan is still ahead of us.
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