 This one section of scripture changed my battle with lust forever. Stay tuned to hear about it. For those of you who have been watching my channel for a while, you've known that I put out numerous videos about lust, pornography, how you can overcome it, and what I haven't been as vocal about is that I've struggled with this mightily in my own life as well. I would say this is one of my biggest sin struggles in my life is with lust. So the other day, God showed me something through his word that has been really amazing. It kind of blew my mind when I first read it. It kind of encapsulated what I'd been experiencing in a really poetic way. And I want to share it with you now. With persuasive words, she led him astray. She seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once, he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his lever, like a bird darting into a snare. Little knowing, it will cost him his life. That is a powerful picture of a woman seducing a man. And I see that as a clear picture of what is happening when we're enticed into pornography or any kind of sexual sin, whether you're a guy or you're a girl. I want to look back to the section of scripture for a second, but at first I want to highlight one of the biggest problems that we have. And that is denial. Our denial when we say things like, oh, it's not really that big a struggle for me. It's just occasional watching. You know, it's not that big part of my life. I could cut it out if I wanted to. We get stuck in this cycle of denial. What are we denying? Well, we're denying the fact that we still struggle with lust and maybe even pornography. The fact is a lot of people try to convince themselves that they've gotten over it and they get overconfident or, you know, they truly believe in their heart that they've found victory. But then, like I said, they get overconfident and, you know, in the midst of this denial, the denial, the denial, they actually fall and they fall big. The key here is to be honest with yourself. Do you actually still struggle? And if you do, you need to confront that head on. It is an issue. It's not something that you can just push under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist. We need to take it on head on and denying the fact that this is still an issue for you isn't helping you. Let's talk about social media for a second because it plays a huge role in triggering so many people into wanting to use pornography because of the hyper-sexualization of a lot of social media platforms. When we look back at that section of scripture where it's talking about the seductress who tries to persuade us with, you know, persuasive words, I look at that as like social media, right? Social media is trying to, you know, kind of slyly bring us into this place where accepting its sexual advances. We're, you know, being accommodated to these images and these photos and these videos and these jokes and everything that's kind of like foreplay to getting us to indulge in this sexual immorality. But we're not realizing it. We're like, okay, you know, it's just a picture here. It's just a video there. It's just a TikTok here. It's just a YouTube video there. It's funny, you know, I'm here for the content denial once again, but you get yourself into this place where you're not realizing that it is a trap. That was the biggest switch for me was realizing that it is a trap. That Satan will try to tempt you by kind of these little small temptations and then it will usher you into bigger and bigger things. But you need to cut it off. Denial is the killer here because if we're denying that we're stepping into a trap that's gonna be game over, right? So if we're denying that this tempts us or, oh, you know, this is kind of like, you know, arousing me in some way. If you're denying that in your, in yourself, you're going to stumble. So what do you need to be? You need to be intentional, alert, aware of what is actually going on. And that takes you to step out of this kind of like oblivious, I'm just, you know, watching this movie even though there's like nudity in it or there's like, you know, characters that are very scantily clad and like, that's not doing anything to me at all. It's like instead of operating the space of denial, you need to be honest with yourself because then you can actually confront it. Here's the thing, sexual immorality and sexual temptation, it is a trap, but there is a way out. In 1 Corinthians 10, 13, it says this, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind and God is faithful. Okay, quick pause for a second. This verse is affirming that we need to get over denial that we don't struggle anymore and realize that this temptation is not uncommon to man. A lot of us are gonna experience this temptation, but this next section of scripture shows us how we can find victory. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can endure it. So the question I have for you is are you looking for a way out? I mean, God said that he would provide a way out but how often are we actually looking for that way out? And instead we step right into the trap. God's provided us with numerous ways out when we think about practical things like just turning off our phone, you know, putting it in an area where we can't reach it, getting outside, talking with a friend, practical things like that. He's also given us a spiritual way out. His power and his presence is with you. That is more than enough to overcome that temptation, not just through your willpower, but through him. If you find yourself struggling with this sin quite a bit and you find yourself falling into it, I want you to know that if you put your faith in Christ and you are a child of his, that membership card cannot be revoked. I also want to point you to the verse where Paul says and he asks, should we keep sinning that grace may abound? And he says, buy no means because we don't want to just keep sinning because oh, well God will save me or God will forgive me anyway. No, like that's the sin that put our Savior on the cross. And so we shouldn't seek to obey him and be obedient to him because of our anxiety or because of our, you know, this duty of trying to be a good person or better ourselves. We should pursue holiness out of our love for God and we, how do we find that love for God? Well, just look to the gospel because well, we were still sinners. Christ died for us. That is our motivation to break free from lust, break free from sin and sexual sin in our lives. And but when we do fall, we can return to God and receive that forgiveness because his grace is enough for you. Thank you so much for watching this video. I hope you got something from it. I hope you were encouraged by it. Each piece of content that I make, I hope God uses it in your life. If you enjoy this content, I'd ask you to subscribe because I'm putting out new videos all the time. It is only because of my patrons on Patreon that I'm able to make this kind of content. So thank you to you guys. And if you want to support my mission of helping people follow Jesus daily, I'd ask you to head to the link in my description and sign up today. Thanks so much guys and I will see you next time. God bless.