Are you being RE-FORMED? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our (RE)FORMATION series with a message about sexual integrity.

Matthew 5:27-28

You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Jesus continues his pattern of challenging his followers to rethink what they have assumed and accepted. What can we learn from this portion of his Sermon On the Mount?

1) Jesus is calling us to sexual integrity.

The Bible views humans as INTEGRATED beings, with emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual aspects that are interacting in a complex and connected way. Sexual desires and decisions are meant to be a part of that INTEGRATED life. 

2) Lust is desire out of context or control.

Sex is God’s idea. But it is designed to be expressed in the right context or it can become destructive. The same fire that warms a house can also burn it down. 

Don’t confuse your DESIRE with God’s DESIGN.

Not every desire is healthy or good for me. Learning and aligning with God’s plan for sexual integrity requires trust in his design.

3) Love takes the long view.

Jesus reminds his followers that God is interested in our long-term joy and fulfillment. Love is patient, and lust is not. To build intimacy requires patience, and sexual sin will work against the intimacy that God wants us to experience now and for eternity!