home :: network :: newslettersJuly 2007 E-News: You Were Made for Purity
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Volume V | Issue 7 | July 2007
Fun Additions to Bebroken.com!
- Guest Map - now you can place a pin on our worldwide map to let us know how far the ministry is reaching. You can even post a prayer request if you want and our team will pray for you every week! Check it out now.
- The Purity Poll - every week we will post a new purity poll to get people thinking about different aspects of the problem with porn and other interesting topics. Participate now at www.bebroken.com.
- Easy access to Pure Sex Radio subscription - now you can subscribe to our weekly radio broadcasts directly from the Bebroken.com homepage.
- Subscribe to Jonathan's blog - you can also now subscribe to Jonathan Daugherty's personal blog site from the homepage of Bebroken.com.
Purity Spotlight
You Were Made for Purity
You were made for purity.
Would your life change if you knew exactly what you were designed to do best? If you knew all the intricacies of how God made you (mind, body, spirit), and how they were to function in harmony, would that cause you to live your life any differently?
I’m not a mechanic, but I know enough not to put sand in the gas tank of my car. My car was not designed to drive using sand as fuel. It was created to run on gasoline (at least through the end of the twentieth century). The same idea is true of my television. It was designed to operate on electricity, so plugging it into a tree in hopes that it would work would not produce a picture on the screen (no matter how environmentally friendly that may sound).
In the same way that my car runs best on gasoline and my television works only by electricity, God also designed you and me with specific functions in mind. Your body, for example, is made to respond well to certain foods in order for all your internal organs to function properly. Drinking motor oil will not cause your liver to operate more smoothly (don’t’ try this; just take my word for it…).
If God, then, created your body to function best when given the right ingredients, wouldn’t it make sense that He designed every part of you, inside and out, with such care and precision? Why would God make your lungs to only achieve maximum performance within the confines of oxygen intake, but expect your sexual or emotional being to “run smoothly” when using pornography or suffering abuse? Your mind, body, and spirit were all made by the same Creator. And He used the same tender care in forming your sexuality, emotions, mind, and spirit as He did in fashioning your physical body.
If this supposition is true (and I believe it is), wouldn’t it make sense to find out how you were designed to function best sexually, emotionally, and spiritually so you could experience a truly abundant life? If you were a race car driver, I would expect you to spend much time, money, and energy in improving your car’s performance so you could win. The same is true in discovering your design for purity. It takes time, energy, and patience to learn what it takes to win in the arena of sexual purity.
To start, you must understand that God made you to function best when living in purity. First Thessalonians 4:7 states, “For God did not call you to be impure, but to live a holy life.” This verse reminds us that as God’s children we are designed to function best when we live a holy, or pure, life. It is how God made us.
If you believed God made you for purity would it cause you to see temptation in a different light? Rather than fighting, struggling, or wringing your hands, you could see temptation as “putting sand in the gas tank.” It just doesn’t make sense, does it? Seeing yourself as designed for purity can help in resisting temptation because your desires change. You want to put into your mind and heart those “ingredients” that will allow them to function at their best. Anything that isn’t “healthy” for your mind or heart, you reject through submission to God and discipline. This isn’t complicated stuff, but it does take focus, determination, and humility.
So, begin today to ingest the "fuel" for which God designed you. Guzzle down purity and you will experience the life you always wanted. As a bonus, your engine will finally purr. Real Answers to Real Questions
Real Question:
Is pornography really that bad?
Real Answer:
This question may seem laughable at first glance, but it is a question that many in our culture are voicing right now. And the fact that we are even asking the question is evidence that our society has become desensitized to the danger and impact of pornography.
The pornography industry in the United States grosses between $12-15 BILLION annually. That is more than professional basketball, football, and baseball combined! Pornography IS mainstream. But does it really have any affect on us? Is there anything wrong with looking at pornography, or participating in pornography? The answer is a resounding YES.
First of all, pornography dehumanizes its participants. Pornographers are not out to create healthy connected relationships in their consumers. Their purpose is to objectify women and men for the momentary pleasure of a "porn high." Once the consumer has gotten their "fix" they discard the magazine, video, or person and move onto the next one. That leads us to another reason why pornography is dangerous.
Pornography is progressive in nature. Consumption of porn will always produce a "need" for more...more graphic, more perverse, more violent, etc. It feeds on our appetite to satisfy our flesh at all costs. Ninety percent of inmates on death row confess to heavy consumption of pornography as having played an active part in their deviant behaviors. Porn inevitably, if let loose, will lead to illegal and violent behaviors.
Finally, pornography is only focused on ME, and how I can get what I want, when I want it, and how I want it. Pornography pulls us away from deep, connected relationships and leads us into isolation. And in isolation I am left to "satisfy" my every desire through porn. But the problem is...porn never satisfies. If it did, sales of pornographic materials would not increase year after year. But because pornography only creates a thirst and never satisfies that thirst, we are left pursuing to the point of addiction and compulsion.
Yes, pornography really is that bad...
If you find yourself living in the damaging effects of pornography, please contact us for help.
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Do you have a real question you need answered? If so, email it to us at questions@bebroken.com.
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