The fight against the flesh can be overcome by applying some Biblical principles.
Have you struggled with lust? Do you feel like you are losing the fight against the flesh? Today we’re going to look at the Bible’s game plan for fighting lust and I’m going to help you start your battle for winning the fight for lust
the Bible actually gives us a strategy for overcoming Lust. Paul gives the strategy right here and it’s a three-part strategy so let’s get right into the verse.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. - 2 Timothy 2:22
The nice thing about this verse is that it can be split into three parts that all happen simultaneously, yet will require that you focus on them individually.
Flee Youthful Passions
We all have those things that we did before we called on the name of Jesus. Those sins that we fell into before we were saved by Christ. In this case, Paul is talking specifically about lust. He's telling us to stop doing those old things that we used to do, because we know now that they are wrong.
The smartest thing to do, especially when this battle is just starting, is to escape - get out - flee.
He’s using an interesting word here too. He’s saying to flee from your sin, to flee from lust. Get away from the situation. Do whatever you have to do to get away from the temptation, because Satan designed it specifically for you to fail. James 1 tells us that we are dragged away by our own desires, so when we are tempted with those old passions that we used to have, we need to get away.
Pursue Righteousness, Faith, Love, and Peace
So, at the same that we get away from our youthful passions, we also move toward these good things - Righteousness, faith, love, and peace - which are almost half of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.
Paul is telling us that when we flee these things that we know are wrong, we actually begin to pursue these other things that are good.
You can’t actually pursue lust along with righteousness, faith, love and peace at the same time; it's just not part of God's design.
As we flee this lust that many of us have dealt with for years, if not decades, we must begin to work on the things that will bring us closer to God. In order to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, we'll have to begin some spiritual practices. How can you do that right now? Open up your Bible and start a reading plan. If you don't have one, then open up to John and read about Jesus. Pray for help in your battles and strength in your weaknesses. Pray for others going through the same fight. Pursue righteousness, not pornography. Flee and pursue are both active verbs, we're going to have to make an honest effort to do both.
Along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Here’s the deal with this last part, we have to make sure that we are running with the right people. God has put Christians in our lives for a reason. They are our race partners. Every now and then we have to take a step back and make sure that we are running the same direction as those who claim Jesus to be their hope. We have to make sure that the people we are reaching out to, are also pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
We can't do life alone and we won't beat lust alone. We need two big things if we are going to stand firm in this: the grace of God and we the help of others; we need their accountability.
If our friends are stuck in a lust-filled lifestyle, then they will not be able to help us get out of ours. Think about it like this, you were going to stop smoking, you wouldn’t surround yourself with smokers, would you? That’s not a very good strategy and you most likely would not be able to quit smoking. That kind of plan won't work when it comes to lust either. You need to surround yourself with positive influences.
Does that mean that we cut all ties with these people? I don't think so. There's a reason why Jesus warned us to remove the plank from our own eye before we try to remove the speck from our friend's. We have to run correctly ourselves before we could ever any help to them. Just imagine what kind of hope you could create in your friends once you start pursing righteousness.
Use your local church and find people that want these things. God established church as a way to encourage and uplift others, amongst other purposes. We can help each other in this race.
Now that we broke it down, let's look at the whole verse this way.
1.) So flee youthful passions
2.) and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,
3.) along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
I hope that helped you look at this battle a little differently. Please remember, if there's anyway that we as a church can help you or pray for you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at our email, on our Facebook or send us a direct message right here on our website.
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