Restful Truth

Every Monday we’ll post something about maintaining your sexual integrity. Hope it helps.

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Restful Truth

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts. – Psalm 51:6

It all began with a lie. The Serpent assured her that when God said “You’ll die” He must have meant something else. And that He wanted to deny her something she should have, and that it would be life-giving. All lies; all accepted then acted on.

Funny how the lies we believe influence the decisions we make, decisions we then lie about as we try to cover them up, minimize their impact, avoid dealing with them. In fact, Adam’s response, after going along with Eve’s deception, was to lie and evade until his heartbroken Creator nailed him. Lies believed, acted on, told. And so it goes.

So show me a Christian involved in ongoing secret sin and I’ll show you an adept liar, and a pretty accomplished sneak as well. Because to keep repeating a forbidden, un-confessed act, you’ve got to pretend you’re doing well, make up excuses or stories when you’re nearly caught, then cover your tracks. If you’ve been there, and I have, you know exactly what I’m talking about. To give yourself to unclean behavior is to believe the lie that you’re entitled to it, and that you’ll never reap the consequences. Worse, perhaps, is the habitual lying that usually accompanies the behavior. It can’t help but reduce your peace and vitality, reducing you, overall, in the process.

Satan, for all his cleverness, hasn’t changed all that much, nor have his tactics. Today he’s likely to approach you with the same line he fed Eve:

-“Hath God said?” (Translation: Maybe He didn’t really mean what He said)

-“You shall not die” (Translation: Consequences won’t come, because somehow you will be the exception to the rule of sowing and reaping)

-“Your eyes will be opened.” (Translation: Go ahead, it will relax you, soothe you, benefit you somehow.”)

Whether the thing in question is a simple fantasy you’re tempted to entertain, or an adulterous relationship you’re being drawn into, you’ll hear this spiel and make a choice. Somehow I think you’ll recognize the lie when you hear it, and will know full well its’ falseness. Still, you can even lie to yourself about that, telling yourself that even if the thing is wrong, maybe it’s not that terribly wrong. You’re human, you have needs, you can always confess it in prayer after you indulge and be forgiven, and what harm will really be done?

I know experience has shown how gracious God is, and how quickly forgiveness is extended without punishment being exacted. I also know (and much more importantly, so do you) that there’s no such thing as really “getting away with it.” The wounded conscience, robbed peace of mind, shame, diminished confidence and spiritual dryness are all their own punishments, dealt out not so much by God but by the logical outcome of stepping over your own integrity.

So let’s you and I both do ourselves a favor today by walking in peace, not lies. There’s a full day ahead of us that will require plenty, and by the end of it, we’ll get the sort of rest and sleep we’ve earned. We already know about the wages of sin, but tonight, let’s enjoy, deeply and steadily, the wages of resisting it.