Day 183: Thoughts on Sexual Sin

1 Corinthians 6; 1 Kings 19; Amos 3:3-4:3

Paul lists off several sinful things that will keep people from entering the kingdom. At first, I was thinking, wow, that kicks out a lot of people. But he goes on to say that many of the Corinthians used to be like that and do those things, but because of The Lord Jesus, they have been washed clean--completely. All that stuff that they used to do does not matter anymore. All the stuff in our past doesn't dictate our eternity. Our choice about Jesus and following him does.

Paul then goes on to talk about how we are to use our bodies. Because God and Christ paid such a high price for us, we should use our bodies to honor them, not dishonor them with immoral things. It says not to be immoral in matters of sex--pornography, prostitution, masterbation, premarital, rape--because those things are a sin against ourselves "in a way no other sin is." What does that mean? There is a reason that child molestation and rape are such heinous crimes: I believe it is because they leave lasting emotional and psychological scars. There is something about sex that is not just physical, it affects people's body and soul. People can get drunk and feel bad the next day, but there isn't an emotional pain that comes with it. They may be greedy and steal or cheat, and feel guilty, but should they choose to return what they took, the psychological pain isn't there. But people's souls are connected to their bodies and so when they are violated sexually, it is an emotional, mental, spiritual, psychological disturbance. This is also the reason God tells us to wait until we are married to have sex. Because, within the safe, secure, loving boundaries of marriage, it is wonderful. Outside of marriage, there is not that security and so it can be damaging. Our sexualized culture makes it no big deal, followers of Christ need to remember to honor God with our bodies and protect ourselves and each other from the spiritual pain of abusing sex.

God was not in the earthquake or the fire, he was in the gentle breeze. Part of me thinks that what God is trying to show Elijah is that he is not a God of theatrics. He is definitely a God of power, but also a God of gentleness and peace. And he is a God of the unexpected. God, throughout scripture, does things in unexpected ways. That's just how he works. The people of scripture often expected God to do one thing (people still expect something out of him) but he likes to show up and do the opposite. I think one reason he does this is to make sure glory goes to himself and so humans cannot take the glory.

In Amos, God says he is going to tear down winter and summer homes and fancily decorated houses. God is not a fan of materialism--never has been, never will be. That's why we need to live this life with eternity in mind and not worry about what we can accumulate in this life. God's going to destroy all the riches of the world anyway.