Pornography: A Detour From God's Plan
I think we can safely say that our society is very visually driven and sensory overloaded. Drive up and down any city street, and you will be inundated with flashing signs, neon symbols, billboards, banners, and advertisements for anything and everything. Just seeing a set of glowing yellow arches makes me want to run out and grab a hamburger and order of hot fries.
Then, we enter our home - a place supposed to be a haven of safety and tranquility, to only flip on the television and log in to our Facebook page. It's everywhere! Commercials, advertisements, blip by blip by blip subliminally sending out a message to our brains that we need this product or must have that new toy; that we must look a certain way, dress with a certain style, partner up with the right type of person, drive the right kind of car, etc. Plainly put, we set ourselves up for failure and disappointment if we buy into all of this worldliness.
Pornography: A Detour from God's Plan
Then there's an age-old problem manifesting itself into a socially acceptable lifestyle:
P O R N O G R A P H Y.
It's an ugly word and something that is becoming a cancerous lesion to marital unions everywhere.
According to Richard and Linda Sauer, in their article, Pornography: A Distortion of God's Plan, explained it this way:
The word pornography is composed of two Greek words. The first is porne, meaning “harlot,” which is akin to the word pernanai, meaning “to sell.” The second word is graphein, meaning “to write.”1 In other words, pornography is literally “the writing of harlots.”
Pornography within marriage is anything that introduces an outside party to a God-ordained marital relationship between two individuals, thus destroying the marital covenant and sacredness.
In Genesis 2:24 God said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." One flesh. One. No longer two separate entities, but one unit, a/k/a no room for anyone else other than God as the glue binding them together.
God, in His infinite wisdom, warned us to "Flee from sexual immorality," (1 Corinthians 6:18) that our bodies are not our own, but were "bought with a price." (1 Corinthians 6:20) Therefore, we are not to join them to a harlot, but to "Drink water from our own well--share our love only with our wife." (Proverbs 5:15)
Yet today, we have an epidemic of men and women surrendering to what I call, "cyber infidelity." Just a little click of the mouse...then another, causing recurring thoughts to penetrate their minds of someone other than their spouse, or they pick up a book such as the latest phenomenon, Fifty Shades of Grey, and morph into a world of sadomasochism and stylized sexual violence. Either one is pornography at its finest.
A flip of the pages, a click of the mouse and we open ourselves up to a whole host of issues. We quickly succumb to the three devastating D's: disillusionment, disenchantment and finally despair.
Disillusionment
As a child, did you ever have a toy that you thought was completely wonderful until you saw something that another child had? A toss of the wrist and you were done, disillusioned by the thing that once captivated your imagination.
The same is true when it comes to our spouse and visual pleasure. There is always going to be someone out there who is better built, has longer legs, bluer eyes, or a more curvy physique. We must constantly resolve in our hearts and minds that we will forsake those things and focus on the one we chose in the beginning. Though it is hard to escape the tantalizing temptations of pretty people within our visually driven society, it should be top priority to continually find ways to rejuvenate our marriage and reinvent the passion that was once there.
Disenchantment
Life has a way of getting in the way. If our "needs" are not getting met by our spouse - physical, emotional, etc., then we will often try and find a way to satisfy those desires.
I have witnessed on numerous occasions, husband or wives who began immersing themselves in outside "harmless fun," which eventually led into flirtations with real people and eventual affairs.
Disenchantment begins when one or both of the marital unit becomes dull or unresponsive to the other's needs. So, we as married couples must continually maintain and evaluate our spouse's physical, emotional and spiritual temperature if we want to safeguard our relationships from outside temptations.
Despair
Despair comes when we feel trapped in a loveless, non-fulfilling marital relationship. It's easy to get wrapped up into an excited, visually stimulating euphoria and at the same time be glancing back at the ole ball and chain you are stuck with. The problem, however, is not as much with your spouse, as it is with you. Once you or I have crossed that line and have fed that appetite of excitement and stimulation, reality begins to cause resentment and even disgust. That is why it is vital to avoid these outside influences at all cost. They will only bring heartache and unhappiness.
With all that said, though our society is quickly slipping into a world of deceit and mockery of marriage, I would encourage you to protect the God-given gift you have been given. Make every effort to turn aside from those things which might lead you away from the perfect one you hold in your arms.
Blessings,
Kristi
1. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, copyright 1981 by G. & C. Merriam Co., p. 888.
Comments
Post a Comment