God uses the gift of sexuality and intimacy to build a marriage, while Satan tries to twist God’s gift and use it to destroy a marriage.

In Exodus 20:14, God says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Hebrews 13:4 tells us, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”

Culture seems to view sexual morality as a thing of the past, but God’s views on sexuality and morality are quite different than contemporary culture, and they have not changed.

Some people perceive God’s standard to be outdated and out of touch today. They find it difficult to even imagine living according to biblical values when it comes to matters of sexuality.

The values of the world say basically anything goes. Who cares what God says? His way seems old-fashioned to some.

The voice of culture says, “I want to do what I want. I will deny myself no pleasure. Why should I allow God to dictate my values? It’s my life. I will do what I want.”

Promiscuity has become the norm of the day.

There’s a great story in the book of Genesis. It is the story of Joseph. His brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt. The wife of the captain of the palace guard attempted to seduce Joseph (see Genesis 39).

Joseph could have made every kind of excuse to give in to that temptation. He could have said things like, “I’m young. I’m single. I’m in a foreign country. Who is going to know? Everybody is doing it. She wants it. I desire it. Why not?” Instead of giving in to temptation, Joseph said, “I will not sin against my God.”

The Bible says when Joseph was tempted, he turned and ran away. That is a great strategy for dealing with sexual temptation. If you are being tempted to give in to sexual temptation, run.

Make a commitment to live according to God’s standard for moral purity, and don’t be afraid to let people know that you have chosen this path.

Let people know that you have made a commitment to be faithful to your husband or wife. Let them know you have made a non-negotiable commitment to God, to your spouse and to yourself.

You can be proud of the fact that you have chosen to live counter culturally when it comes to matters of morality.

You may read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected].