I was blessed to attend the National Coalition of Ministries to Men National Conference this past weekend. Of the ministries represented, I was impressed with the number of organizations focused on pornography – how it is destroying marriages and distorting what healthy relationship looks like for a whole generation of young people.
The statistics are depressing. Seventy-eight percent of Christian men view pornography weekly or monthly. Eighty-eight percent of GenZ and Millennials (ages 18-43) view porn monthly, and half of those view it daily or weekly. Possibly the most shocking information is that most participants in the survey were comfortable with the amount of porn they consume. Wow!
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. Paul’s admonition is to honor the temple of the Holy Spirit and glorify God by fleeing from sexual immorality. Easily said but not easily done in a digital age when images pop up randomly on phones, pads or computers and further enticements are available at the click of a mouse. Shadows of guilt can quickly envelop with the darkness of shame. Shame in turn drives a man to isolation, one of the devil’s most effective schemes to take man out. Solomon provides some guidance: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. … Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12. In marriage, Jesus the Christ is the middle strand in the cord of three. When Jesus is in the middle of a marriage, the cord is not quickly broken. This also applies to relationships between men. When every man has at least two other men with whom he can be vulnerable and accountable to, marriages will endure, a generation will be saved, the pornography industry will die and sexual trafficking of women and children will no longer be in demand. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. – John 8:36. Be free! And set others free downstream.
Be Free in the Cord of Three:
Prayer guide: Thank You Lord for Your word and the Holy Spirit. I confess that I have been doing life as a lone-ranger man, husband and father. Forgive me. Grant me strength to stand firm in the power of the resurrected You and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Be in the middle of my marriage and surround me with at least two brothers I can be vulnerable with and accountable to. Help me become the man, husband and father. You expect me to be, and the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father is free in the cord of three.
I was blessed to attend the National Coalition of Ministries to Men National Conference this past weekend. Of the ministries represented, I was impressed with the number of organizations focused on pornography – how it is destroying marriages and distorting what healthy relationship looks like for a whole generation of young people.
