“For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matthew 7:13). The road to hell is wide, and the same is true for the road to sexual sin. Our world profits from lust. Sex has become synonymous with advertising: “sex sells.” A recent large-scale web analysis shows adult-content websites draw as much monthly traffic as major social media platforms: 50 billion monthly visits worldwide to adult sites,1 with 91% of those searches from smartphones.2 Put personally—your teenager, spouse, and co-worker are statistically as likely to be viewing pornography right now as social media. Pornography is not a fringe struggle; it is a pervasive sin pattern in many (mostly men’s) lives. Across the church, men are silently battling the shame and secrecy of a deep-rooted sin pattern that has captured their hearts. The church must respond with truth, admonition, accountability, and the hope of Christ. The road to sexual impurity has become a digital superhighway leading straight to physical, emotional, and ultimately, eternal destruction. How seriously are we taking this issue?
Solomon’s Warning to His Son
In Proverbs 7:7-22, we find one of the wisest fathers, King Solomon, gravely warning his son about the danger of sexual sin and impurity:
“I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner… in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness… With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter.”
Solomon describes a young man wandering through the part of town known for immorality; it is late at night, the man is alone, vulnerable. He is either a fool or a man with his heart set on ill intent; his presence “near her corner” alone tells us the ending to the story. But do we see the same danger on our smartphones? In our children’s unsupervised internet access? In the R-rated, sexually charged movies we stream as families? This lesson isn’t about resisting temptation; it’s about avoiding it. The young man falls into destruction because he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
David’s Dangerous Idleness
In 2 Samuel 11, a similar story unfolds, but this time King David is in the wrong place:
“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab… but David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1).
King David sits bored and alone in his palace, while his advisor, Joab, leads the nation to war. Neglecting his kingly duties, he sees Bathsheba, bathing naked on the roof of a nearby house. And like an ox going to slaughter…he steals her away, kills her husband, and conceives a child with her (see 2 Samuel 11). David’s greatest vulnerability did not come on the battlefield among advisors, but in the palace where he was alone, idle, and serving himself. So, it is with us: temptation grows strongest not in faithful service and community, but in isolation, idleness, and self-focused living.
The Source of Sin
King David, who knew he struggled with lust, put himself in a position to sin. James 1:14-15 tells us, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” David’s sin brought about the physical death of Uriah and the child born of adultery, but its impact went deeper: generational sin and a nation turned towards idolatry (see 2 Samuel 11&12). The moral is pointed: we are not victims of temptation. The devil may whisper, but it is our own evil desires that lead us astray. No one “makes” you open a pornographic website—this is a choice to gratify the flesh rather than honor God. Like David and the wayward young man, we often foolishly create the very environment that bears forth our sin. The answer is not found in greater personal willpower; it is found in recognizing our weakness and shaping our lives with intentional guardrails that help us avoid temptation, in dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ Radical Call to Action
Jesus offers a better, though more uncomfortable, way to fight sin when he says: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away… and if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29–30). His point is unmistakable: be ruthless with sin. Remove whatever draws you toward temptation. Consider a surgeon operating on cancer who removes not only the tumor but also the surrounding tissue to ensure nothing harmful remains in the body. Do we treat sin with the same seriousness? If your phone leads you to stumble—get rid of it. If unrestricted internet access, late nights alone, or sexually charged TV shows have been the path to temptation—remove them fully from your life. Protect your heart from sin and remove obvious opportunities for it to take hold in your life. If this sounds harsh or extreme, it is far better to lose your smart phone than your whole body to sexual immorality.
A Call to Action
Apply the surgical wisdom of Matthew 5 to your current sin pattern. What full measure do you need to put in place where a half measure has led to passivity, faint-heartedness, or perpetuation of sin? Swap your smart phone for a dumb phone, restrict all social media and internet access on your phone, move your computer to a common space, and stop taking your phone into your bedroom/bathroom. For every suggestion offered, there is always a justification for why this is unreasonable. Our own comfort and ignorance tell us these drastic measures surely aren’t required in our lives. Wake up and see that your sexual sin thrives in secrecy, passivity, and comfort. Be ruthless with sin—not to earn God’s favor, but because you already have it. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Jesus’ call is a Holy Spirit initiated and radical life transformation. Purity is going to cost you something, but it is well worth the cost! “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
Conclusion
The battle against sexual sin is not won by rules; it is won by a heart captivated by Jesus. The practical steps below will fail unless they are rooted in a larger vision of our identity in Christ. As we abide in Him and His truth, we will see holiness and sexual purity as a path to freedom, not a restriction from the lie of “personal freedom.” The road is narrow, my friend, but it is a good road, and it leads to eternal life and true freedom in Jesus. Guard your heart, remove every foothold for sin to grow in your life, and run after Jesus!
Practical Steps to Fight Sexual Temptation
- Serve others.
- Remove all social media and block all internet access on your phone.
- Create shared social media and email accounts with your spouse.
- Only access the internet in public or shared spaces, never in private.
- Do not take your phone anywhere alone (bedroom, bathroom, etc.).
- Install accountability software (e.g., Accountable2You, Covenant Eyes).
- Stop watching sexually charged movies and shows.
- Consider where temptation has been greatest and then destroy the surrounding environment; leave no foothold left for sin to exploit.
- Remove access to temptation immediately, not “eventually.”
