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Sex and The Single Person

Counsel Regarding Sex and The Single Person From John Piper

  1. Do not seek regular sexual gratification through masturbation, that is, the stimulation of your own self to sexual orgasm and climax.

Masturbation does not solve sexual pressure for too long, it tends to become habitual, it produces guilt, and it contradicts the God-given design of sexuality. Our bodies and desires were designed for the sexual union of persons, and masturbation contradicts that design.

Masturbation does not solve sexual pressure for too long, it tends to become habitual. Our bodies and desires were designed for the sexual union of persons, and masturbation contradicts that design. Click To Tweet
  1. Do not seek sexual satisfaction through touching or being touched by another person, even if you stop short of sexual intercourse.

Everyone knows that intimate touching is the prelude and preparation for sexual intercourse, and therefore it belongs where that event belongs, namely, in marriage. Where the permanent commitment that characterizes marriage is missing, caressing becomes depersonalized manipulation; it turns the other person’s body into a masturbation device to get a private physical thrill.

Everyone knows that intimate touching is the prelude and preparation for sexual intercourse, and therefore it belongs where that event belongs, namely, in marriage. Click To Tweet
  1. Avoid unnecessary sexual stimulation.

It does not take any brains to know that there are enough X-rated movie houses and adult bookstores to keep a person livid 24 hours a day. PG movies, television, magazine and song lyrics are readily available. In our society, you cannot escape sexual stimulation, but you can refuse to seek it. And you can avoid it often when you see it coming. This is the great test of whether we are enslaved or free – can we say no to the slave driver in our bodies who wants us to keep on looking and keep on lusting.

In our society, you cannot escape sexual stimulation, but you can refuse to seek it. And you can avoid it often when you see it coming. Click To Tweet
  1. When the stimulation comes and the desire starts to rise, perform a very conscious act of transfer onto Christ.

I wish I had learnt this earlier in my life. While riding down the road, if some billboard or marquee puts a desire into my mind for some illegitimate sexual pleasure, I take that desire and say, “Jesus, you are my Lord and my God, and my greatest desire is to know and love and obey you, so this desire is really for you. I take it from your competitor, I purge it, and I direct it to you. Thank you for freeing me from the bondage of sin.” It is remarkable what control we can gain the directions our desires take if we really long to please Christ.

When sexual temptation or stimulation comes and the desire starts to rise, perform a very conscious act of transfer onto Christ, by making scriptural confession out loud and continuously. Click To Tweet
  1. Pray that God would give you ever-increasing strength, a longing to know and love and obey him above all else.

I read a sermon once titled, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”. The point was, there is no better way to overcome a bad desire than to push it out with a new one. It is in prayer that we summon the divine help to produce in us that new desire for God.

  1. Bathe your mind in God’s word.

Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). There is nothing that renews the mind and enables it to assess things God’s way like a regular meditation on the word of God. The person who does not arm himself with the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) is going to lose in the battle for his/her body. Psalm 119:8-11.

Nothing equips you to face temptations like God's word burning in your spirit. Click To Tweet
  1. Keep yourself busy, and when it is time for leisure, choose things that are pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8)

Idleness in a world like ours is asking for trouble. It is much harder for sexual temptation to gain a foothold when we are busy at some productive task. And, if you need some fresh air, walk in a park.

Idleness in a world like ours is asking for trouble. It is much harder for sexual temptation to gain a foothold when we are busy at some productive task. And, if you need some fresh air, walk in a park. Click To Tweet
  1. Don’t spend too much time alone.

Be with Christian people often. Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together, but encourage one another, stir up each other to love and good works. Talk of your struggles with trusted friends. Pray for each other and hold each other accountable.

Talk of your struggles with trusted friends. Pray for each other and hold each other accountable. Click To Tweet
  1. Strive to think of all people, especially people of the opposite sex, in relation to eternity.

It is not easy to fantasize about a person if you think about the eternal torment they may shortly be suffering in hell because of their unbelief. Nor is it easy to disrobe in your imagination a person who you know to be an eternal sister or brother in Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “From now on we know no one according to the flesh”. We view everybody from God’s eternal perspective.

  1. Resolve to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and he will add to you everything you need sexually.

It may be a spouse. It may be the grace and freedom to be single and pure and content. That is up to God. Ours is to seek the kingdom. Or to put it another way, our all-consuming passion must be to glorify God in our bodies by keeping ourselves free from enslavement but one: the joyful, fulfilling slavery to God.

These points were gotten from the closing thoughts of John Pipers Sermon titled “Sex and The Single Person”. February 8, 1981, | by John Piper | Topic: Sexual Purity on desiringgod.org

John Piper is founder and teacher of Desiring God and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Thank you for reading. Remember to leave a comment.

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About author

Articles

Tolulope Oludapo is a young Christian who lends his voice through the media by sharing practical wisdom for everyday living in the most experiential and simplified fashion. This has fetched him the direct followership of over 30,000 users on his blog, lifegiva.com. A blog he founded. He loves to write on varying subjects that affect life, faith, relationship...everyday living.
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