Don't Take it From Me

I don't want to justify it.

I want to acknowledge that it's a lustful struggle and be willing to call it sin.

Girls, I'm talking to you, mostly. You young girls that have all of your innocence to hold onto, you high school or college women, whether you've given pieces of yourself away or not, I want you to hear something crucial & I sincerely want you to believe it.

You are so desired by a God that wants only the very best for you. He is jealous for you. He wants you all to Himself. He wants all of your focus and attention & I truly believe that whatever/whoever you let get in the way of that focus on Him, He will take away from you.

You will have plenty of heartbreak in this life, many trials, many things that will cut you down until you feel you have nothing left & that is when you need Him most. Turn to Jesus, who paid the price for every misstep you've taken along the way, for every future failure, who saved you from yourself & died for your debt on a cross to save you from eternal damnation. All you have to do is trust Him. That's it! We all come before a perfect God as dirty, broken beings that are in need of a Savior. Jesus Christ saves!

He offers us exactly what we need, no matter what the context of our sin: sexual or not.

I have spent many summers out at Camp Eagle as a camper, as a student leader, as a counselor. I remember one night in particularly when I was serving at Camp Eagle under the River's Edge crew, each week we would split guys from girls and while the guys would do "manly things" the girls would dance the night away, have a candle-lit dinner and then have heart-to-hearts, sharing the deepest pits of sin in our lives. Each week I would be extremely prayerful about what the Lord wanted me to share with the girls on that night. Each week we would get new campers, new sweet souls to pour into & that was my favorite night, we cried & laughed & walked away feeling lighter. I found myself sharing something different that I felt filthy because of each time we sat under those starry skies, with nothing but vulnerability and circles of trust and support. I started catching myself releasing outlets that left me feeling empty like growing up without a father, being physically betrayed by someone I trusted against my will-- things I had no control of & then the immoral decisions I had made all on my own. I allowed myself to break through the burden of keeping secrets & began to let others into these nasty holes in my life to start the mending process. Then each girl would share, we'd take turns-- it was broken, hard, & then it was sweet, it was worth it & there was no longer loneliness in that sin. As soon as we admitted to them aloud, there was freedom. God allowed us to share in those pains. We found comfort in that freedom & walked in His light instead of in the darkness of our sins. We were no longer weighed down or confined by them.

Then I will return to my lair

until they have borne their guilt 

and seek my face--

in their misery

they will earnestly seek me.

(Hosea 5:15)

He brings beauty from ashes.
He is gentle. He is trustworthy. He is committed.
He offers an everlasting love and a promise of eternity that will never ever be taken away from you.
Drop all of those burdens or lustful desires or past regrets.
Take up that cross--
Then never ever look back.

Therefore confess your sins to each other 

and pray for each other

so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man 

is powerful and effective.

(James 5:16)

I want to leave you with a visual. When I was about 17 I went with a lovely group of girls to a little conference called The 'Silver Ring Thing'. This is a teen abstinence rally & as testimonies were shared there was one thing I will never forget. One young woman stood in front of us and shared a glimpse into her web of lust, all the guys she had let her guard down for, the people she willingly allowed to strip her of innocence meant for the context of marriage. She was holding a wooden heart and each time she went further into territory she knew better than to enter into, a chainsaw took large shreds or chunks out of her heart. By the end of college, when she was thinking of what she truly wanted in life, she found Jesus. As she began taking inventory of her heart she realized there wasn't much of it left. She had given pieces of it away with every bad-intentioned guy she let into her bedroom--into her heart.

Jesus didn't let it end here.
This isn't a tragedy.
The decisions we've made do affect us but they do not define us.
He had a better plan but she needed Him in order to find it.

She eventually found a man who clung to Jesus instead of giving into sexual temptation. He saved himself for the woman he was going to marry. He honored his future wife by surrendering to Jesus. He had a whole heart to offer. It wasn't without blemish, of course, but as their hearts entered into a Christ-centered relationship together, eventually into matrimony, they were renewed through God's love & forgiveness.

When she felt she had nothing left to offer,
Jesus said, "Come to me, Child"

So,

Take inventory. 

Acknowledge sins in the depths of your being.

Then bring it before your Father.

Then forgive yourself, too.

It's never too late to be made new through Christ.

But
Don't take it from me.
Dust off that Bible and take it from the word, the Truth.

Take it from Him
& then walk in freedom.