Help, How Can I Prevent Or Overcome The Sin of Fornication?

Sex is one of biggest weapon the enemy uses to hold us in bondage, captive to #sin; many just cannot live without sex. Christians and non-Christians have found themselves entangle in the web of sex as they have been deceived by the enemy to think that they have to fulfill their desire for sex whenever they want to.

Anyone who wants to live holy in this world must abstain (keep away) from the sin of fornication. Fornication is having sex outside of #marriage. The truth is, and is something #Satan knows very well, all of us wants to have sex, we dream about, think about most of the day, struggle with it while we are reading the #Bible as we try to keep our mind’s on the word of #God, we hear it daily in the music around us, watch it in movies, see #men and #women daily who grabs our attention and sometimes starts to lust after what we see (lust of the eyes).

Sex has become a part of us and thus many of us struggles with sex and lust, but it is a struggle that we can overcome.

[tweetthis]Sex is one of the biggest weapon the enemy uses to hold humanity captive to sin[/tweetthis]

The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3: 16), the question then is ‘how do I stay focus and not go against the word of God?’ In other words how can I prevent, and if I am already having sex, how do I overcome the #temptation of sex and keep my body holy?

Here are some tips that we can apply so that we won’t fall into temptation:

1. Realize first of all that we are all humans and there are times that we will fall, but it’s important for us to know that we can get back up, dust the dirt off of our garment and try not to fall again (1 John 1:9;2:1). When we make a mistake we can go boldly before the throne of God and ask God for mercy (Hebrews 4:16). However, it is important for us not to put ourselves in the position where it is likely for us to fall into temptations. For example, if you are currently dating you should not be alone with the person you are dating, e.g. at his/her home, at the beach together, in the dark etc. PREVENTION IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN CURE.
2. Acknowledge that this is a problem and is against God– If our goal is to please God, then we have to do it according to his Word, the Bible. The Bible said that we are to present our “bodies a #living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”-Romans 12:1. This means that for what God have done for us, dying on the cross and by doing so paying the price for our redemption, what He wants in return is that we present our body as a living sacrifice unto him, a sacrifice is not easy; it takes a lot out of us, but it is reasonable. The Bible also said that fornication is the only sin that is against our body which is the temple of God, it is where God dwells (1 Corinthians 6:18-19). Sex outside of marriage therefore is a very serious sin (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:15).

We have to give #sexual sins the attention it deserves; we simply can not ignore it like many families and #church does. Sexual sins will not simply go away; we have to deal with it. Fornication can affect a person’s mind and body (e.g. AIDS, HIV, pregnancy, depression, low self-esteem etc.) and in extension a person entire future and that of others.

3. Fast, pray and read the Word of God often– #Fasting and #prayer will give you the strength you need to stand firm in Christ and help you to grow closer to God. The closer we get to God the more strength we will gain to live holy and the better our #relationship will be with him. Jesus said that some things that we will face can only be handle through prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21) and said of his disciples that they will have to fast when he is no longer with them (Matthew 9: 15). Jesus knew that they will need the strength to overcome the trials and temptations that will come with serving God.

Some of us struggle, especially if we were once in the world and are accustomed to having sex, with thoughts and desire of sex constantly. Praying, reading the word of God and fasting will give us the strength to overcome this hurdle.

4. Hang out with people who can strengthen and motivate you- As human beings we are social beings, and what that means is that we need each other, we need to socialize in order to survive. However, we have to choose our friends wisely. The Bible says, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”-1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) similarly, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”-Proverbs 27:17.

It is very important that if we want to stand by the word of God then we should seek out persons that will strengthen and motivate us to stay pure. These friends when we get weak will hold our hands up like Joseph who helps Moses hands up so that they could have won the battle. Ask the Lord to help you to choose the right people.

5. Be committed – To stay pure is not an easy task; it requires vigor, courage, commitment, perseverance and self-motivation. The only way we are going to avoid fornication is if we have a made up mind.
6. Don’t allow your peers to push you to have sex– Most of us will agree that our greatest motivator is often times not the word of God, but our peers (our friends). Your friends will try to persuade you to have sex, but who do you prefer to obey, man or God? Do not let the music, movies and people around you to encourage you to go against the Word of God. At the end of the day, you will have to stand alone on the Day of Judgment to give an account of what you did in your body. Your friends will not stand with you as they too will have their own judgment to face. Sometimes to live for God we will have to distance ourselves from some people we use to hang out with.
7. Feast your mind upon things of God- There is a slogan that says ‘you’re what you eat’ this is also true for our spiritual life, whatever you feed your mind on, that is what will direct your life, similarly, whatever you meditate on that is what will take root in your spirit. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8, “Be not deceive; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”. If we constantly feed our mind upon sexual things then we will not be able to stand, we will become weak and fall into temptations.

[tweetthis] Whatever you meditate on that is what will take root in your spirit and control your life[/tweetthis]

My encouragement to you is to feast your mind on things that do not have lots of sexual contents in them. Each day we should gird up the loins of our mind by rejecting things that enter into our mind that are not of God such as sexual content etc.

9. Follow in Jesus footsteps. The Bible says this about Jesus, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted”-Hebrews 2:18. Jesus walk on earth for 33 ½ years but did not allowed the temptations around him to lead him into sin. He knew who he was and why he came to earth. He knew that if he should give in to the flesh then he would not be able to fulfill his purpose. Not only that, if he lived a life of fornication, how could he charge us when we sin?
10. Talk to someone who is responsible and you can trust- They are many responsible people we can talk to, though they are in short supply, they do exist. Arrange a meeting with your guidance counselor, teacher, talk to a friend who you can trust and that is responsible, a pastor or church member. It sometimes helps to talk to someone who can help you to overcome or avoid fornication.
11. Pray– Yes prayer is still in style and we can go to God in prayer when the urges or coming on us very frequent and strong. By talking to God your mind will be distracted from the feelings and God will give you the strength you need to overcome.

The Bible says we are to “…Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We have to stand firm upon the word of God and our commitment to stay away from fornication. God expects us to be holy as he is holy, keep our body holy and to resist the urges to have sex (Ephesians 5:3; Romans 12:1). We should glorify God with our (1 Corinthians 6:20), we can’t do this if we are engage in sexual activities.

[tweetthis] If we fail to deal with fornication, then it will destroy you [/tweetthis]

Please share your thoughts or comments with us by leaving a comment below. Like this article? Please share it on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you will not miss another post from us.