How to Overcome Sexual Sin
1) Make a commitment to God’s standard of sexual morality.
What is God’s standard? Reserve all sexual activity for your marriage. Receive all sexual gratification from your spouse alone – visually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. That means chastity if you are single, and fidelity if you are married.
Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”
2) Avoid temptation.
Romans 13:14. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
Proverbs 5:8 says, “Keep your way far from her. Don’t go near the door of her house.”
Mark Driscoll said, “Sexual purity requires both a passionate want to and a plan for how to.”
Genesis 39:12 says, “She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.”
3) Decide to do whatever is necessary.
Matthew 5:29-30 “29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.”
4) Get married.
1 Corinthians 7:8-9 (CSB) says, “8 I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.”
5) Believe that you can change.
Philippians 4:13 says, “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”
In Matthew 19:26b Jesus said, “… with God all things are possible.”
6) Purify your mind.
Romans 13:14 (NIV) says, “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Thomas Watson wrote, “Thinking of sin makes way for the act of sin. Suppress the first risings of sin in your heart.”
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
2 Corinthians 10:5b says, “… we take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
7) Develop the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 16:6b says, “… one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.”
Thomas Watson wrote, “Labor to get the fear of God into your hearts. As the embankment keeps out the water, so the fear of the Lord keeps out uncleanness.”
Thomas Watson went on, “Bernard calls holy fear, janitor animae, ‘the door keeper of the soul.’ As a nobleman’s porter stands at the door, and keeps out vagrants, so the fear of God stands and keeps out all sinful temptations from entering.”
Thomas Watson wrote, “To fear God is to have Him always in our eye. He who fears God imagines that whatever He is doing, God looks on, and as a judge, weighs all His actions. To fear God is to have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts that we dare not sin. The fear of God will make you forsake sins which can neither be heard nor seen by men. The fear of God destroys the fear of man…. The greater noise drowns out the less; the noise of the thunder drowns the noise of the river; so, when the fear of God is supreme in the soul, it drowns all other carnal fear.”
8) Grow your love for God.
Look at John 14:23a (NIV). “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.’
Mark Driscoll wrote, “Before you cheat on your spouse you have to cheat on God first. You won’t break the seventh commandment if you keep the first commandment. If you make sex your God, then you will commit adultery. You can’t walk with Jesus into adultery.”
Thomas Watson wrote, “Chrysostom compares God’s word to a garden. If we walk in this garden, and suck sweetness from the flowers of the promises, we shall never care to pluck the forbidden fruit.”
9) Guard your eyes.
Mark Driscoll said, “Sexual sin starts with your eyes which then recruit your hands.”
Job 31:1-2 (CSB) says, “1 I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman? 2 For what portion would I have from God above, or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?”
10) Realize that you are vulnerable.
1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.”
Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”
11) Avoid drugs and alcohol.
Ephesians 5:18 says, “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.”
1 Thessalonians 5:6 (NLT) says, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.”
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”
12) Stay busy.
Why did King David commit adultery? One reason is that he was relaxing at home when he should have been leading his men in battle. His army was at war, but he was hanging out on the roof of his palace, and that’s when he noticed Bathsheba bathing on her roof. He looked; he lingered; he entertained evil thoughts; and then he took action. But it all started because David was idle. He wasn’t busy doing what he should have been doing.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Idleness is the devil’s playground.” That’s Biblical.
Thomas Watson wrote, “Take heed of idleness. When a man is out of a calling, he is ready to receive any temptation.” Too much leisure is not good for anybody.
13) Nurture your marriage.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 (CSB) says, “9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.”
Proverbs 5:18-19 (CSB) says, “18 Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving deer, a graceful doe—let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.”
Thomas Watson wrote, “To avoid fornication and adultery, let every man have a chaste, entire love to his own wife…. It is not having a wife, but loving a wife, that makes a man live chastely…. He who loves not his wife is the likeliest person to embrace the bosom of a stranger.”
Woody Allen said that “sex is the most fun you can have without laughing.”
Mark Driscoll said, “Marriage couples fight for fidelity with freedom and frequency.”
14) Live with the end in mind.
Mark Driscoll said, “Define your life forward and then live it backward. Look down the road. What do you want for your future? I want to grow old with my wife; be friends with her; hold her old, wrinkled hand; I want to hear our grandkids running around the house; at Christmas time I want to see her smile and have joy. All the decisions I make along the way need to be decisions that lead to that end. Shortsightedness will damage your future.”
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