Sex: Design. Distortion. Redemption.Sample

Prayer: 

As you open up the word of God, pray over the tension between your spirit and your flesh. Pray that God brings awareness to where your flesh's desires are the strongest and surrender these desires to God. As you read these passages ask God to reveal how you can turn to desires of the Spirit.

"The Tension"

We have conflicting desires constantly. Sometimes they seem trivial and the outcomes are not very different—do I want pizza or pasta for dinner? Do I want to watch Friends or The Office? Sometimes, though, the options are drastically different from each other—do I want to go to school in Texas or study abroad? Do I want to work out or eat ice cream?  Do I want to go to my girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s house alone to watch a movie where we will likely go past our boundaries, or do I want hang out with her or him in a group where we won’t be tempted in that way? 

We are constantly battling the conflicting desires we feel, and it can be frustrating that our desires are so different. Sometimes we feel on fire for the Lord and want to grow in our relationship with Him. Sometimes it’s easy to say no to things that you know do not honor God. Other times, we feel overwhelmed with temptation, and desperately want to give in to a sin that we know will end up hurting ourselves or others. 

At times, the freedom of Christ might feel like chains holding you back from everything you want to do, but, rest assured—you aren’t losing your mind. You have conflicting desires because we are at war inside ourselves. As humans born into sin, our flesh desires certain things (impurity, idolatry, jealousy, etc.). As believers in Jesus, we have the Spirit inside of us, and the desires of the flesh are against the desires of the Spirit (see Galatians 5). The Spirit is given to us when we accept Christ into our hearts— He is the weapon we are to use to combat the flesh inside of us.  The two natures cannot coexist—they are polar opposites. We need to turn to the Spirit and the fruit that come from Him in order to abstain from the desires of the flesh. 

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Take some time to reflect on times when you have felt war within yourself. Are you aware of when the Spirit inside of you and your flesh are against each other?
2. Look back over verse 19 and read through the different “works of the flesh” that are listed. Which one have you seen the most present in your life?

What’s Next:

1. Read over the fruits of the Spirit in verse 22. Pick one of them that you would like to spend some time growing in over this next week. Think through specific ways you can grow in this area.