Response Blog #5

    The struggle for Christian's today against the temptations of the internet are at the level of a pandemic. It would probably be impossible to find a Christian man who has never struggled with lust at some point in their spiritual walk. It can be difficult to navigate conversations with people who struggle, but why is this?

One reason why it is probably so difficult is because we do not want to offend those whom we love the most. This for me has always been one of the most difficult things. I hate confrontation. I hate division. I hate being uncomfortable; so approaching these conversations has always been something that I have struggled with, and at times, have fallen short of what I should have done. 

One thing I really appreciate about what Paul Tripp says in his book Sex and Money is this quote:

"I knew in that moment that I would not help him by minimizing the daily temptations he was facing. I knew it wouldn’t help him to negate the power of the war he was living in. I knew it wouldn’t help him to pump up his assessment of his own strength. To do any of those things would have been to play into the deceptive power and attraction of sex-and-money insanity. As I sat there with him, I was once again reminded that hopelessness is the doorway to hope. It’s only when we abandon our hope in our own righteousness, wisdom, and strength, and it is only when we abandon our hope that the created world will be our savior that we will then reach out for the riches of the righteousness, wisdom, and strength found only ever in Jesus.

Tripp hits the nail directly on the head here. Our job as those who are helping others through sexual temptation is not to minimize the struggle, or to ignore it, or to tell them that it is okay. We ought to be upfront with them. This struggle is real. It is powerful. It is spiritually draining and dangerous for their souls. 

In what ways then should we encourage those struggling? We ought to:
- Pray for them
- Pray with them
- Be upfront with them about the need of repentance
- Encourage them  concerning the love and grace of God
- Encourage them about the support of the Holy Spirit
- Study scripture with them

No matter how hard they are struggling or how badly they want to quit, it does not negate the fact that there is some sort of idolatry at root in their heart, where they (like Adam and Eve) pick the sweet thing instead of obey God. 


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