Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

The Apostle Paul does a very unusual thing in 1 Corinthians 6. He classifies sins. Well, what he really does is create only two classifications of sins. He says in verse 18 to “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” He’s not saying sexual sin is worse than other sins, he’s saying the impact is different than other sins. 

Isn’t that interesting? He’s basically saying that you can put all kinds of sin in one group and sexual sin in another group. Think about that – any kind of sin you can think of is different than sexual sin. Because when you sin sexually, you are sinning against your own body.

The point for us is to apply this to the question we’ve been asking in this series: what’s the wise thing to do? In light of my past experience, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams, when it comes to sexual expression and morality, what’s the wise thing to do? We can so easily begin to look for loopholes or make excuses to do something we really want to do, even if we know it’s not the wise thing to do. “It’s no big deal!” “There’s nothing wrong with…” “I know I shouldn’t ______, but I’m going to anyway.” We can lie to ourselves and talk ourselves into doing things even if we know they’re not wise.

What if we began to ask our question in light of what Paul writes in the last part of verse 20 in the same chapter: “Therefore, honor God with your body.” Instead of asking “is there anything wrong with this?,” how about asking “will this honor God and is it wise?” What’s the downside of being extremely careful with something that can be extremely painful? When we are facing the consequences of our unwise decisions, suddenly we are willing to go to extreme measures. Why not take those measures now? What’s the wise thing to do with my body and how do I honor God with my body?

If you want something different, something better for your life, you’re going to have to take a step back and do what very few people are doing so you can have the relationships that very few people enjoy. In light of your past experience, your current circumstances, your future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing for you to do?