Ephesians 4:17-19 – Conversations with God

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

It seems, Lord, that the evidence of a darkened understanding and hardened heart most often comes out in sexual impurity.  I suppose this is because the sexual impulse craves fulfillment and we look for ways to justify acting on it even though we know it will wreak havoc in all of our relationships.  We greedily want more than we can handle and often hurt the ones we love because of our selfishness.

You were affirming with Paul’s words that this kind of lifestyle is off limits for us.  We cannot faithfully represent You if we are so caught up in ourselves.  We are thinking in a futile manner and living as if we were excluded from Your life if we remain given over to sensuality.

Our society screams sensuality at every corner and we have more opportunity to pique our lusts than we can count.  Teach us to make a covenant with our eyes (like Job did) and with our hearts not to go down this path but to turn to You when we feel we are being drawn into this vortex.  Make us more excited by real relationship with You and a wholesome outlet for our senses.