Ephesians 5:3-4
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
In verse 3 Paul challenges us that "sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you". The NIV translates this as "there must not be even a hint of ...". I find this challenging because it is easy to think that as long as I don't do anything really wrong, it's okay. For example, "as long as I don't have an affair, it's okay to look". The problem with statements like this is that real life is not that black and white, and when we dabble in the gray we can easily slide toward the darker color. Plus even our little actions are a witness, either positive or negative, to other people. For example, even though we may think our flirting is harmless, it can affect the person we are flirting with, as well as may be behavior that our children and others will imitate. It is safer and a better witness to have not even a hint of sexual immorality.
Lord, help me to keep strong boundaries around my behavior.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
In verse 3 Paul challenges us that "sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you". The NIV translates this as "there must not be even a hint of ...". I find this challenging because it is easy to think that as long as I don't do anything really wrong, it's okay. For example, "as long as I don't have an affair, it's okay to look". The problem with statements like this is that real life is not that black and white, and when we dabble in the gray we can easily slide toward the darker color. Plus even our little actions are a witness, either positive or negative, to other people. For example, even though we may think our flirting is harmless, it can affect the person we are flirting with, as well as may be behavior that our children and others will imitate. It is safer and a better witness to have not even a hint of sexual immorality.
Lord, help me to keep strong boundaries around my behavior.