I spent pretty much my whole life living with lust all around me. Society tells us that lust is normal and doesn’t need to be contained.  According to the world all you need is two consenting adults or, if you want to have a ‘safe outlet’, use porn or masturbate. You’re 'not hurting anyone'. These are all lies that come from the 'father of lies' whose goal is to steal, kill and destroy. Yet, even Christians fall for these lies. We think that lust is impossible to conquer, that a life without lust is impossible. Instead, we try to 'contain' it, 'control' it and use ‘safe outlets’. For most of my life, I didn’t think I could conquer lust. I bought the lie.

 The truth is, I was deceived by Satan and the world. We have been saved by Grace for a purpose and we have been freed from slavery to sin, all sin, including lust. I made excuses for willful disobedience to the commands of a Holy God. Though I grew up in Church and was saved at an early age, the subject was barely covered. Everyone knew that people were struggling with sexual sin, but it wasn't directly addressed aside from the occasional 'don't do it'. Good advice, but try telling someone NOT to think of a pink elephant. What are you thinking of now? The tools to combat lust, which is likely a struggle for more than 90% of men, were never provided. We need those tools. The Conquer Series has begun to teach those tools to men who have the courage to stand up and fight instead of buying the enemy's lie.  

 We are in spiritual warfare. God has given us the tools we need to be warriors in this war. Paul teaches us about the full armor of God in Ephesians  6:10 -17. But everyone who has been in Church for any length of time has heard of the full armor of God. If that, alone, fixed the issue of sexual sin, there wouldn't be an issue. The truth is that people get trapped in a cycle of sexual sin because they've learned that these outlets are 'safe'. Sometimes people don't want to come into the light because they like their sin. Sometimes they keep the secrets because they are afraid of consequences. In many cases, people get trapped in a cycle of shame because at their core, as Christians, they know it is wrong/sin but they can't kick it. But until sin is brought into the light, it is hard to break its power. Many people think they can stop anytime...but if that was true, why haven't YOU stopped your sexual sins?

I encourage each of you men to become warriors in this area of spiritual warfare. Don't sit casually on the sidelines while you and your brothers struggle. The stats say 7 of 10 men are struggling. My personal belief is that at least 2 of the other 3 weren't being fully honest. Even if you don't struggle with any sexual sins (masturbation, porn, lust, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, fantasizing), you can still come to the Conquer Series and learn the tools so you can be a help to your fellow brothers-in-Christ. Or as fathers, you can learn how to teach your sons to be free of this sin in a society that is designed to entrap our young men in sexual sin early.

We need men to help men become accountable. James  5:16  tells us to 'confess our sin one to another...so that we might be healed'. The sacrifice of Christ brought grace and forgiveness...men being accountable to one another brings healing. Sin cannot survive in the light, lust can be conquered. Not by us alone, but with Christ, all things are possible. And God has given us the tools in His Word. Accountability partners are a critical step in the path to healing from the sexual sin cycle. Come fight with us.

Eric