Overcoming Bad Habits and Addictions — Part 6

Keeping yourself clean from anything that would defile your body may not seem very important, but it is actually a key to living a godly spiritual life and qualifying for God’s higher purposes. The Apostle Paul understood this.

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”—1 Corinthians 9:27 (ESV)

God criticized the people of Israel in the time of Amos because they sabotaged those who were called to His higher purposes by causing them to defile their bodies.

*“I chose some of your sons to be prophets and others to be Nazirites. Can you deny this, my people of Israel?” asks the Lord. “****But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine, ***and you commanded the prophets, ‘Shut up!’”—Amos 2:11-12 (NLT)

Jesus found fault with the church in Pergamos because they tolerated people among them who were persuading believers to defile their bodies through acts of immorality.

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there some [among you] who are holding to the [corrupt] teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, [enticing them] to eat things that had been sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of sexual] immorality.”—Revelation 2:14 (AMP)

Balaam was a true prophet of God, but he was destroyed by the greed that drove him. He died prematurely, suffering a violent death at the hands of his own people.

An enemy had hired Balaam to help him overthrow the people of God. Balaam taught this enemy to entice God’s people into committing sexual sin and eating things that were unclean. Balaam knew that all he had to do to overthrow the people of God was to entice them to defile their bodies by indulging in their cravings. Balaam was right. As the people of God began to indulge in their lusts, God was forced to bring judgment upon them for these sins. Paul tells us the devastating effect that this had on God’s people.

“We must not indulge in [nor tolerate] sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand [suddenly] fell [dead] in a single day!”—1 Corinthians 10:8 (AMP)

Psalm 106 gives us more details of the destructive effects these cravings had on God’s people:

“But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.”—Psalm 106:13-15 (AMPC)

“Leanness” in this verse means “less than it ought to be.” Their capacity was reduced. They limited their own potential.

In the end, all but Joshua and Caleb died without fulfilling their purposes in life. Their cravings ended up destroying their dreams of a better life. Their lives were destroyed, and they never entered into the Promised Land filled with all of the wonderful things that God had prepared for them.

Today, the Church is speeding headlong down the same path that Balaam laid out for the people of Israel. Rather than speaking out against fornication as a sin that devastates the lives of those who give themselves over to it, the Church seems to have embraced the culture of the world and the doctrine of Balaam, tolerating fornication as an acceptable practice.

John Paul Jackson once addressed a gathering of young worship leaders. Many of these church leaders were unmarried but were involved in romantic relationships. John Paul asked how many of them had already experienced sexual relations with their partners in one form or another. All of them indicated that they had.

The doctrine of Balaam is alive and well in the 21st century Church.

Abraham’s son, Reuben, lost his inheritance as the firstborn because of only one sexual act with his father’s concubine. Ruben’s life should be a warning to the Church today where fornication is an epidemic. The Bible tells us in several places to “flee fornication.” And “flee youthful lusts.” Satan has been successful at ingraining fornication into our culture as an accepted practice. In doing so, countless believers who were called of God may never enter into the fullness of all that God had planned for them unless they overcome these temptations.

“So run away from sexual sin. It involves the body in a way that no other sin does. So if you commit sexual sin, you are sinning against your own body.”—1 Corinthians 6:18 (ERV)

The Forgotten Discipline

Abstinence is a forgotten discipline, like fasting, that separates underachievers from those who are not only called but are also chosen to enter into God’s high calling.

“For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.”—Matthew 22:14 (AMPC)

The Apostle Paul acknowledged that there may be times, even in a marriage relationship, when abstinence may be a valuable discipline to help focus our efforts on seeking the Lord:

“Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”—1 Corinthians 7:5 (NLT)

When the early church leaders were given the task of advising new Gentile believers on what was best for their spiritual growth and progress, they didn’t give the advice that we might expect to hear from church leaders today. They didn’t say things like “attend church regularly,” “read your bible daily,” or “develop good prayer habits.” Instead, they only addressed fleshly appetites and abstaining from things that would defile their bodies.

“The apostles, the elders, and the whole church wanted to send some men with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The group decided to choose some of their own men. They chose Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were respected by the believers. The group sent the letter with these men. The letter said:

From the apostles and elders, your brothers,

To all the non-Jewish brothers in the city of Antioch and in the countries of Syria and Cilicia.

Dear Brothers:

We have heard that some men have come to you from our group. What they said troubled and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this. We have all agreed to choose some men and send them to you. They will be with our dear friends, Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas and Paul have given their lives to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have sent Judas and Silas with them. They will tell you the same things. We agree with the Holy Spirit that you should have no more burdens, except for these necessary things:

Don’t eat food that has been given to idols.

Don’t eat meat from animals that have been strangled or any meat that still has the blood in it.

Don’t be involved in sexual sin.

If you stay away from these, you will do well.

We say goodbye now.

So Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas left Jerusalem and went to Antioch. There they gathered the group of believers together and gave them the letter. When the believers read it, they were happy. The letter comforted them.”—Acts 15:22-31 (ERV)