TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11
Read: 1 Peter 2:11-12
Listen: 1 Peter 2
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Peter writes today’s verse to a group of Roman believers living in a sexually permissive culture. He challenges these early Jesus-followers to abstain from acting on sinful sexual desires. What Peter is asking them to do is extremely counter-cultural. However, this is not the only time this is mentioned in the Bible. Paul tells the believers in Corinthians to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18). This was a serious issue for Paul, Peter and others. They know acting on certain desires is just plain harmful, so it is better to abstain. They also knew if followers of Jesus took this seriously—people would ask some questions.
The message to abstain from sinful sexual desires is not always an easy one to follow. It’s much easier for us to rationalize our own sinful sexual temptations and focus instead on others’ sexual sins. But these passages drive us to surrender our own sexuality no matter if we are tempted toward pornography, same-sex sexual expression, infidelity, pre-marital sex, or fostering impure thoughts. The Bible’s message encourages us to look at our own hearts and lives to flee from sexual immorality into the loving arms of Jesus.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Consider where you may need to abstain from sexual desires and run toward Christ. If there is an area where you need to flee, please know that Jesus knows your heart, thoughts and what you have done. He still loves you deeply, gave his life for you and desires a relationship with you. He offers each of us forgiveness for the mistakes we’ve made. If you’re interested in having a conversation about the forgiveness God offers, email us at btw@adabible.org to start a conversation.
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
February is SABBATH. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
