What's Wrong with That?

Our world is an enchanted territory. Cinema has introduced into our culture many sinful values that have become so firmly established in people's worldview that if you think differently from everyone else, you become "a white crow." Unfortunately, that side of love in the family that should be hidden from prying eyes and belong only to husband and wife, the enemy of the soul has brought to public view, reducing it to dog's fun, thereby making it very popular.

In my school years we were instilled with the consciousness that every citizen should have a family and moreover one, and for life. Not so many years have passed, and a legal family becomes a rarity and something old-fashioned among the younger generation.

Cohabitation has so firmly entered the consciousness of society that many simply do not understand how one can create a family without trying one's chosen one in advance. What if they don't suit?

Moreover, the initiative of such relationships comes mainly from men who establish these rules and make them the norm of life.

The Bible calls such relationships fornication and condemns such behavior as sinful. And all this is the beginning of many venereal diseases.

However, this sin also leads people to extramarital pregnancy, which places a certain responsibility on cohabitants. But this too is solved by popularizing abortions and contraceptives. And no one thinks about the consequences, and enchanted people want more to have pleasure.

What has cinema taught us? When two people meet and realize that they are created for each other, they begin to be drawn to each other, and they decide that this is true love. And to beautifully present it to a friend, a first kiss is allowed, which turns on the endocrine system at full power and sets in motion all kinds of hormones that take possession of a person's feelings and begin to guide many thought processes. And this is not something disgusting, but what brings pleasure and enjoyment even at the level of thoughts and feelings. But young people are short-sighted and do not imagine the consequences of the development of events, and Hollywood solves this problem simply. Give yourself to a friend in the power of his passion and get maximum pleasure from it. And a family is not needed for this. What if this is not the right person? And how else to express your sympathy to a person?

Although I am a believer, and it is difficult for me to describe these abominations, but such is the reality of our world, and this corruption has touched the church as well. During my life in the church brotherhood I have been a frequent witness to how such a spirit leads people away from the truth, destroys families and makes brethren mad in matters of personal life.

Describing correct relationships in sincere love for one another, I understand that for many people this can become a temptation, because they see relationships between opposite sexes at the level of Hollywood ideas, which must necessarily lead us to sin. And this is the reason that the statistics of falls in this matter are quite high and steadily growing.

I think soon will come such a time when they will forbid talking about love for one another in church, so as not to lose what barely lives.

The enemy of the soul has introduced a strategy of imposing and promoting his goals called "Overton Windows." The essence is as follows. Another abomination is taken and put on public display and discussion in various media. It is not taken seriously and is poured with mud, but is not removed from the stage. And since this is long in view, society gets used to the presence of this abomination in its midst. It becomes popular, and then interesting, then fashionable and desirable. As a result, it is introduced into law and given legal status, protecting its freedom. And then over time this abomination is made mandatory and necessary. And the people accept it. And those who resist such arbitrariness are declared rebels and are persecuted in administrative and criminal order.

The history of the fall of great empires and civilizations comes down to one common denominator—satiation and sexual corruption of society. And this becomes that point of no return, after which there is no more mercy from above, and everything is subject to complete destruction.

When now in our time you try to somehow influence the behavior of people in love and possessed by passion, drawing their attention to Eternal values, then you hear in response words of misunderstanding: "What's wrong with that? We love each other, and everything is serious with us!" And serious is when first God's will is studied, then relationships are built in comprehending each other, and then responsibility is taken and a family is created.

What does a woman experience living with her extramarital friend? She subconsciously has a fear of being abandoned. She has no guarantees that this friend will love and value her always. Their relationship has no legal status, and the state cannot demand anything from them and somehow influence to preserve this union. And God calls this sin and calls to repentance. How will the soul feel in such a dungeon? And if unwanted pregnancy occurs, what to do and what to count on? And with all this baggage unfortunate souls come to God, wanting to remove the burden, but not solve the problem of sin.

And Hollywood continues to colorfully advertise all kinds of abominations, convincing its fans to live exactly this way.

And the people of God are in this environment, hear about what is happening and sigh about all the abominations being committed among them. Ezek. 9:4.

Only God's grace can heal the heart and mind of a sinful person. Only agape love is capable of cleansing the soul from all impurity and abomination. Although sin leaves scars in life, it loses its power where Christ reigns.

The Lord knows what fornicators face, and accepts these people in His arms, granting them forgiveness and strength and calling them to sin no more. But if a person does not consider this sin a sin, then who can help him?

I remember one young woman who suffered from deep depression because her cohabitant after 5 years of life with her left for another. She did not understand her problem, but only repeated: "I want him to come back!" And all attempts to point her to Christ came down to the fact that He should return her friend.

When sin damages the mind and brings with it physical pleasure in the intimate sphere of life, this makes repentance very difficult, and sometimes impossible. And not because God has no power, but because the pleasure center paralyzes the human will, and it is incapable of making decisions about its deliverance, but seeks greater pleasures.

It can also be sad that although the sin of fornication is not accepted by me, it is also not condemned in my neighbors. I resign myself to the fact that society becomes such, and I show a liberal spirit toward this. And this is sad.

If you begin to teach a corrupted heart to love one another, then it will understand this science exactly the opposite and will pervert it to its own destruction.

God, commanding us to love one another, wants to see agape in these relationships. He Himself is revealed in this love, granting us the purity and holiness of His presence.

"But fornication and all uncleanness are not even to be named among us, as is proper for saints." Eph. 5:3.

1. Please read: Heb. 13:4; Eph. 5:1-5; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; 6:9-10,15-20; Lev. 21:13-15; Deut. 23:17-18; 1 Kings 15:11-13; 22:46; Prov. 6:26; 23:27; 29:3; Matt. 21:28-32; Heb. 12:15-16; John 8:2-11 in light of this topic.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

4. If the world does not consider fornication something bad, then why should we see it differently?

5. Why is fornication a sin?

6. Can a person be pure in body from the sin of fornication, but in thoughts turn out to be corrupted?

7. What is fornication?

8. Why does God hate fornication, since it brings people pleasure?

9. Why should there be no corrupted brethren in the church?

10. Why in Matt. 21:31 did Jesus say that harlots go before the Pharisees into the Kingdom of Heaven?

11. How did Jesus relate to people with questionable reputations? Luke 15:2.

12. Is there any hope for fornicators to get into the number of the saved?

13. Why is it so important in love and friendship to understand the danger of the spirit of fornication?

14. Will Satan try to seduce brothers and sisters who love each other onto a slippery path?

15. What should I do if I notice in my life impure thoughts and feelings toward a representative of the opposite sex?