Control Your Own Body

That you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor. —1 Thessalonians 4:3–4

Battling lust is not a twenty-first century phenomenon; God’s people have always had to deal with sexual temptation. The apostle Paul confronted this matter when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica about their conduct.

Regardless of how spiritual we may claim to be, the truth is that we’re no more spiritual than our sexual conduct and thought life. In the passage above, Paul gives two specific exhortations regarding our sexual behavior.

First, have absolutely nothing to do with any form of immorality. Instead, we should determine to be morally blameless in all our thoughts, activities, and relationships.

Then Paul tells us to be a student of our own person. We need to know what entices us to immorality and avoid it, and we also need to know what encourages us to be pure and activate it.

In doing so, we take a big step toward personal revival, deep joy, and true freedom.