Last Wednesday Recap - Compromise

Last Wednesday we studied Revelation 2:12-17, the Compromising Church. We saw that there are several different ways that can hinder our walks with the Lord. First, stumbling blocks can get in our way and cause our focus to be taken off the Lord. A stumbling block is anything that trips us up on our journey on the narrow path that God has called us to walk. Usually, these are things that start of small and if we get our focus back on Jesus we can quickly conquer these things. If we don't take care of business right away when those stumbling blocks creep into our lives, they can turn into an idol. Remember Mandy's story about her addiction to Myspace? There is nothing wrong with Myspace, but when it (or anything else) becomes something we can't live without, it becomes an idol. Anything is an idol if we put before our relationship with God. The first two ways of compromise mostly deal with ourselves, but the third ALWAYS has effects on ourselves and others. Sexual immorality, or sexual sin, is possibly one of the most consuming sins you could deal with. The Bible says, "Flee sexual immorality." Remember the story of Joseph? He was in charge of Potiphar's house and Potiphar was a very weathly man in Egypt. As Joseph was doing his daily tasks around the house one day, Potiphar's wife approached Joseph and tried to seduce him. Since Potiphar was a very wealthly and powerful man, his wife must have been very beautiful. This wasn't the first time she had flirted with Joseph. Instead of giving in to temptation (which could have been hard for Joseph) he chose to be obedient to God and he ran from her! Each one of you will face the same temptations in your life. Remember Joseph's story and the command of the Lord to flee! Sin starts out small in our lives in the form of a stumbling block that trips us up, then if we don't watch out it becomes and obsession or an idol. Finally, sexual sins have very deep emotional effects on ourselves and others.