Heroes: Devotions From Time of Grace MinistrySample

OVERCOMING: JOSEPH, SON OF JACOB

TV dramas and movies generally portray sexual excitement only between people who are not married to each other. "Falling in love" is exciting because you can't control those desires – you can only obey them. "Out of control" sexuality seems to make better video.

Genesis chapter 39 brings us the unbelievably wonderful story of a manservant with enough self-control to resist the allure of a quickie with a wealthy and beautiful married woman who was throwing herself at him. "Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me.' But he refused. . . . ‘My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?'"(Genesis 39:6-9).

Our sexed-up culture bombards us all with the message, "Resistance is futile. Go for it, and who cares about consequences." Joseph is a hero who shows that we can indeed resist. ¡Si se puede! ("Yes, we can!") Imagine how different our world would be without all the adultery. Imagine all the damage that adultery has done – fatherless children, broken marriages, and STDs.

Sexual love is fulfilling and guilt free only when it is expressed by a man and woman who are married to each other. Do you believe that?