How Hard Is Easy and Easy Is Hard
The temptation to lust hounded me for well over 40 years of my life. I fought and struggled, yet it felt like a losing battle. Why was I so weak? Why could I not be strong and resist? Why did I keep going back to it?
I believe the answer is simple. I was not doing it God’s way. I was avoiding what I thought was hard, taking what I thought was the easy way. And in reality I was sabotaging myself and setting myself up for failure.
In the NIV, Paul writes these words to the believers in the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:3 – “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” (Notice that I am talking about lust but Paul includes greed. I believe this principle is true in relation to a myriad of sins and addictions.)
How likely am I to fall into sexual impurity or pornography if I do not allow even a hint of it in my mind or in my life? I would say it is next to impossible. By establishing and sticking with “crisp boundaries” I will have a guardrail which will safely keep me on the road to a life of purity and goodness. Hard, fast rules protect me. What’s hard makes this easy. Quickly pushing out any and every impure thought will make it impossible for lust to gain a toehold in my mind. (Those who are battling worry or over spending can use this same strategy.)
As a child of God, greedy thoughts or impure thoughts cannot be tolerated nor accepted. Think of how many television programs you and I need to consider as unacceptable for the man or woman who wants to please our Father and walk in the light?
Just last night I had some free time. I decided to look for a movie to watch on Netflix. As I scrolled through the options I found a few action movies that looked interesting. Then when I went to a site to see how they were rated I discovered many of them had dozens of uses of the four letter f word. That was discouraging. As I kept looking I finally found one movie rated PG-13. It appeared to be much better than the others. As I began to watch it, in the opening scene there was a man and a woman in bed. She was wearing a tight shirt and it was obvious that she was not wearing a bra. I should have turned it off the first second I noticed. While that was not the case, within a few seconds I came to my senses (and the Holy Spirit convicted me) that this movie was not going to add anything good to my life. I had no business watching this kind of movie. It would certainly not be classified as a pornographic movie. It was not even R rated. But it contained more than a hint of sexual immorality and would lead me to cultivate impure thoughts in my heart and mind.
Just this morning a friend named Blas was chatting with me on Facebook. He told me he is tempted to think about a married woman he was involved with in the past. Immediately I related my experience with him. I told him we have to be ruthless in pushing out all unwanted thoughts. I shared Ephesians 5:3 with him. He replied: “I read that this morning!” Then I asked him how his life would be different if he applied to the letter the simple words of Ephesians 5:3. He quickly responded, “I would not have gone through three marriages.”
Next I talked with him about something I learned during my recovery. This applies to all addictions and habitual sins: alcohol, drugs, gambling, greed, pornography, etc.
Notice the three circles. The yellow area is the “middle circle”.If my only goal is to avoid pornography (which is in the equivalent to the inner, red circle in this illustration) I must also avoid all of the things which lead up to actually acting out. This example of gambling shows how important it is to live our life in the outer circle. Doing what is right and good and beneficial. This is the life God has for us. All of the middle circle (in yellow above) activities, while not seeming to be so bad, are steps towards acting out. In my case to look at and lust over a woman wearing a short skirt or a low top cannot be accepted as okay. Picking up a remote control and scrolling through channels on a television or using my finger to scroll through photos on Instagram could also fall into the category of middle circle behavior.
Thus “not even a hint” is what makes walking with Jesus easy. The easy yoke is living with Jesus day by day. Focusing on Him. Fixing our eyes on Him and the writer says in Hebrews 12:2. When we follow the advice of Philippians 4:8 we will always live in the green, outer circle above. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
It’s true! If you and I want to live a life worth living, a life with no regrets, the recipe is in the Bible. God knows best. When we listen to His instructions and put them into practice in our lives — a blessed life will follow. What some would say is hard, leads to true joy. This does not mean that temptations are totally absent, but that they have lost their pull on our souls. And of course we are not exempt for problems in our lives such as Covid-19, but we have a way to deal with anything that comes our way. We have learned to trust in the Lord and to put our lives in His hands. We know He is with us and He will help us weather all storms that come our way.
Yes! Jesus is Better! God’s way is always Best!
Take a look at my book to learn more: Jesus Is Better Than Porn
