What is the solution to strong sexual desire?
Hi, welcome to today's little lesson.
We've been talking about sex, sexual desire and masturbation, illicit sex and so forth,
looking what the Bible has to say.
This will actually be the fourth little lesson in this series, so if you haven't seen the
first three you might want to check out those other ones before you watch this one.
But on our last lesson we started reading through first Corinthians, the first few verses
of chapter seven, where Paul addresses the subject of sex.
A common theme throughout this entire section is Paul's undeniable acknowledgment that sex
is good and that sex is God given and that because of sexual desire and because of the
pitfalls of people that don't properly vent their sexual desire and the sins that are
waiting out there, Christians ought to get married.
We've read that last time.
He said, in verse number two of first Corinthians, chapter seven, "But because of immoralities,
each man is to have his own wife and each woman is to have her own husband."
Paul's remedy for the problem of immorality ... Again, he never mentions masturbation
in any list as being an immorality.
But because of immoralities, and Paul does list them in first Corinthians.
In fact, it all starts of by addressing a man who's living in an incestuous relationship
with his stepmother.
Then Paul lists, "Don't you know, adulterers and fornicators will not inherit the kingdom
of God."
See, so he's already gotten into some specifics.
But now he's saying because of the immoralities, because of the fact that there's potential
for immorality out there with people who are unmarried, because they don't have a way to
express, vent, act on their sexual desire, the solution is marriage.
Okay, now you say, "Well I'm not married, where does that leave me?"
That leaves you in need of marriage, if you have that sexual desire.
We've read these verses over the years within Christian circles.
I think we've lost ... They don't have the same impact upon us as they would if we were
reading them for the very first time with a really open mind, so I'm asking you to open
your mind and try to pretend like you're reading this for the very first time.
Listen to these words, what Paul writes, because even within marriage he sees that there are
potential dangers there because of God given sexual desire.
Just because you're married to somebody doesn't mean that there isn't temptation to express
your sexual desire and act on it outside of marriage.
That's what the sin of adultery is.
Paul says, verse number three, "The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise
also the wife to her husband."
You need to be making sure that your marriage is not a sexless marriage.
Otherwise, you're setting yourself and setting your spouse up for temptation that could lead
to immorality.
This is a commandment, this is a commandment I love obeying personally myself.
All right.
Boy, we'll just have to go out and fulfill our duty, hopefully as often as we possibly
get a chance.
"The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband."
What a great duty.
It gets even stronger if you can kind of open your mind as if you've never heard this before.
"The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does, and likewise
also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."
Oh my goodness, whoever heard, whoever would have thought of such an idea as that?
Can you believe that's in the Bible.
Husbands and wives ... Husbands, your wife's body, she doesn't have authority over that,
you do.
Vice versa, wives, your husband's doesn't have the authority over his own body, you
do.
Oh my goodness, I can't believe you're saying ... I never would have thought anyone would
ever say this.
It's said right in our Bibles.
It's over the top.
Oh my goodness.
You hardly even know how to paraphrase this, it's just so over the top.
Can you imagine anyone saying this?
"They said it, Paul said it."
Verse five, "Stop depriving one another."
He's addressing those sexless marriages where one or the other is not cooperating.
One or the other saying, "This is my body, I think I'll decide to stop having sex."
Well it's not your body, it's your spouse's body, you can't decide that.
If they want it, they got it.
It's theirs.
Can you believe anyone saying this?
I mean, it's almost shocking.
"Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves
to prayer."
Only if you can both agree and this, "Hey, let's forgo sexual relationship for a limited,
limited time, so we can spend more time in prayer."
Oh my goodness.
"And then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of
self control."
Now, there are some folks who said, "Well, there you go now David, you've been saying
that masturbation is never listed in scripture as a sin, but right there, what is the temptation
that Satan is tempting these people who are in a sexless marriage?
Well, it can only be masturbation."
Au contraire monsieur, there's plenty else to do besides masturbate in a sexless marriage,
and I think everyone would agree that masturbation is ... Solo sex is nowhere close to mutual,
consensual sex.
It's just nowhere close.
It's a cheap substitute, but nowhere close.
For anyone to say, "Well that verse right there proves that masturbation is wrong",
well actually it doesn't.
If that's what Paul was talking about, why didn't he just say it?
Why didn't he say it anywhere in the New Testament, in all of the epistles he wrote.
If there's a place to write about masturbation, Paul has it here, and he has it in previous
chapters too when he addresses sexual sins.
Oh my goodness.
Here's the override thought, I want to talk to the single people, all those people, those
41,000 young men who have viewed our most popular little lesson video, Will God forgive
me if I keep repeating the same sin, and I think I know what they're struggling with.
Can you see how this chapter, these words so affirm the reality of sexual desire and
that remedy, the release, the solution to sexual frustration is marriage.
Of course, you just can't marry anybody over night, but it could take some time, but that's
the solution.
Paul didn't say, "Well just suck it up buddy," or, "Take a cold shower."
I remember trying that.
I'd love to ask those guys the questions that say, "Take a cold shower."
How's that working for you?
Oh my goodness.
God bless these preachers.
All right, well we're out of time and we'll just pick up here in our next little lesson.
This is kind of fun, talking about these kind of things.
I hope that I'm at least making some struggling, single people feel a little bit better about
themselves.
We still have questions and answers to give, so hope to see you next time.
God bless you.