Today’s Verse:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. —Ephesians 5:31–32
Your Challenge: Align your lives to God’s design for sex as an act of praise.
Today’s Devotional:
Revival is not about holding our ground—it’s about reclaiming territory that has already been lost. Few areas have been overtaken by sin and darkness more than the sexual climate of our culture. The average college female today graduates having had 7.2 sexual partners. Women are embracing erotic books and porn as an acceptable way to awaken their sex lives. And, all the while, married couples are reporting less frequent sex.
The sexual ethics of the Church need awakened to the truth of Jesus Christ. A desire to act in accordance with God’s design for sex will accompany revival in our personal lives and in our culture.
Look Up: Seeking Him in Praise
Have you ever considered that the act of sex is a sacrament of praise to God? From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible teaches that God designed marriage and sex to paint a picture of Christ’s love for the Church, His Bride. This truth is most clearly communicated in Ephesians 5:31–32. It’s as if He knew this world would have trouble remembering God’s love, so He gave us something to remember it: a man and a woman in shameless oneness.
Is it any surprise, then, that Satan would be motivated to lie to us about the value, meaning, and use of this beautiful gift from God? Aligning our lives to God’s design is an act of praise. Are you doing that?
Look In: Seeking Him for Our Own Hearts
You will know you are aligning your life to God when your sexual choices are a consistent expression of your spiritual commitments. Your sexual desire is meant to draw you to your spouse, and any response otherwise abuses and misuses that desire. So, prior to marriage, God calls us to restraint (Eph. 5:3). After marriage, He calls us to faithfulness (Heb. 13:4). A revived sexual live is self-controlled and does not involve sex outside of marriage. Are you living a godly, self-controlled life in all areas of sexuality?
We also fall short of aligning our sexual and spiritual lives if our ethic focuses on only what we should not do. God designed sex, and He loves it. If you’re married, the act of sex should happen on a regular basis and be mutually pleasing (1 Cor. 7:3–5; Prov. 5:18–19). If you are married, is that happening in your marriage?
Look Out: Seeking Him on Behalf of Others
When we make ourselves available for the Holy Spirit to revive our spiritual and sexual lives, it will be contagious. The Welsh Revival of 1904–1905 resulted in the closing of bars, nightclubs, and strip joints. They had no business. God changed the culture when He brought revival. We cannot force the lost to change their behavior, but we can intercede for them to be revived as we experience it ourselves.
Reflect and Respond:
- Is your sexual life in need of revival?
- Are you demonstrating restraint and faithfulness with your sexual desire?
- If you are married, is sex occurring regularly and is it mutually pleasing?
- How are you interceding for our culture’s ethical crisis?
Join the Discussion