A Time to Run
In my youth group, growing up in Wolverhampton, our "favourite" memory verse was:
"Flee the evil desires of youth" (2 Timothy 2:22)
I don't think we were all that serious about this choice, we quoted it to one another, I am afraid to report, sometimes in jest.
And we only quoted the first part of the verse, not the second part, which reads:
"...and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
Sanctification is Plus and Negative
We find in Scripture that sanctification is always running away from the negative and at the same time running to the positive. Of course it is, for becoming holy is a U-turn. U-turns by their very nature involve turning away from what we are walking towards, then when we have turned round, pursing something else.
So just to quote the negative and not the positive is to leave ourselves in no-man's land with nothing good to replace the evil. In the place of the evil desires of youth, says Paul, we are to chase "...righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
Each of those virtues is worth a blog post on its own, but not today.
The negative can stand by itself, "flee the evil desires of youth."
Sexual Temptation
It is most likely that Paul has in his mind, first and foremost, evil sexual desires. Paul does not believe that sexual desires are in and of themselves wrong. In fact people who say they are wrong are devil-taught preachers he says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, because sex is a good gift from the Lord.
No, Paul is referring to evil sexual desires. Every sexual desire which has as its object or fulfilment someone who I am not married to, is an evil desire. Sexual desire is to be fulfilled within the marriage of one man and one woman, alone. All sexual desire outside that fence is evil, for it always does damage, and never does good.
In another place Paul explains why this sin is so dangerous: "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body." (1 Corinthians 6:18)
There is something particularly and mystically destructive to our bodies when it comes to sexual sin.
Summing it Up
How do we flee from the evil desires of youth? If we are a woman, we deliberately choose the path of modest dress. In that way we do not attract the sexual attention of men. If we are parents we teach our daughters to cover up. If we are a man (or a woman) we make a covenant with our eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman (Job 31:1). We avoid films books and websites with sexual content. We put accountability software on our phones, tablets and laptops.
Flee means don't hang about, but instead run from.
And in the place of chasing the evil desires of youth, we need to spend our time pursuing, "...righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
A SONG FOR THE DAY
Our wise old hymn for the day possesses a bygone wisdom as to how we can flee the evil desires of youth.
Yield not to temptation,
For yielding is sin;
Each vict’ry will help you,
Some other to win;
Fight valiantly onward,
Evil passions subdue;
Look ever to Jesus,
He will carry you through.
Ask the Savior to help you,
Comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.
Shun evil companions,
Bad language disdain;
God’s name hold in rev’rence,
Nor take it in vain;
Be thoughtful and earnest,
Kindhearted and true;
Look ever to Jesus,
He will carry you through.
God giveth a crown;
Through faith we will conquer,
Though often cast down;
He who is our Savior,
Our strength will renew;
Look ever to Jesus,
He will carry you through
Horatio Palmer
Sing along right HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our loving Father in heaven,
You have made us and you know us altogether. We thank you for every good gift and that includes the gift of sex. We thank you that in heaven there will be no marriage because marriage is an image of the greater relationship which we the church, the bride of Christ, will enjoy with the Lord Jesus Christ who is the heavenly Bridegroom.
We thank you that all of us will be "married" in heaven.
Teach us to flee all sexual temptation, wherever it is found, and in its place to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Forgive our many sins and enable us by your Spirit to walk in holiness, honouring you with our bodies every day.
For we pray these things in Jesus' Name,
Amen
Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash
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