David Maxson
06/29/15
Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call insight your intimate friend,
to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.
Proverbs 7:4-5
The stats on porn are jaw dropping:[1]
68% of young men and 18% of young women use porn at least once a week.
After an analysis of 400 million web searches, researchers concluded that 1 in 8 of all searches online are for erotic content
By 2015, mobile adult content and services are expected to reach $2.8 billion, mobile adult subscriptions will reach nearly $1 billion, and mobile adult video on tablets will triple worldwide.
In a 2010 national survey, over a quarter of 16- to 17-year olds said they were exposed to nudity online when they did not want to see it. In addition 20% of 16-year-olds and 30% of 17-year-olds have received a “sext” (a sexually explicit text message).
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reports that 56% of divorce cases involve one party having “an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.”
This is just a fraction of the stats. The power and reach of the Internet is immense, and with the rapid proliferation of smartphones and handheld devices, this problem will only get worse. The devil is having a field day.
But did you know that the devil has something more dangerous than porn in his arsenal against us? Internet porn is a powerful weapon and the devil loves to use it against us, but the Bible warns us of another tactic he uses which is much more subtle and every bit as deadly.
What is this weapon?
WORDS!
Do words scare you? No? Well, you should be scared. In Proverbs chapter seven, young men are warned against the wiles of the immoral woman, and do you know what her most powerful weapon is? You got it: words.
In spite of the powerful attraction of the eyes in men, the dress of the immoral woman is mentioned only once in the chapter. According to verse ten she is “dressed as a prostitute.” That kind of dress is effective at luring men, but it is only mentioned once. There are three statements about speech: “smooth words” (v 5), “seductive speech” (v 21), and “smooth talk” (v 21). Bottom line, there are more warnings in Proverbs seven about what the immoral woman says than what she wears.
What does this tell us? It tells us there is more to sexual attraction than just the eyes. Visual stimulation is strong in men, but pride is just as powerful. Men have big egos. Men want to hear compliments. They want to feel strong and powerful. They want to be appreciated for what they do. When a woman compliments a man (whether it be his physical strength, work ethic, business savvy, integrity) there is an attraction that is stirred in a man’s heart that is every bit as powerful as a scantily clad coed walking in front of him.
What makes this tactic even more dangerous is it is not seen as all that dangerous. If a woman walks half naked in front of you, you’d have to be an idiot to not recognize the temptation. However, if a woman tells you she admires you, do you see that as a potential threat to your marriage? If a woman was trying to seduce you with words alone, would you see it coming?
Some advice:
Guard your heart. If someone other than your wife is giving you a lot of praise, don’t be a fool. Recognize the temptation and avoid that potential threat to your marriage (Prov 2:16; 5:3; 6:24).
Avoid intimate situations. Don’t be alone with a woman other than your wife. Be wary of private chats (talking, texting, messaging). Always have a clock in your head and know when to wrap up the conversation.
Make sure your wife is your best friend. This is especially important for young men. Young people are getting married later and later in life and sometimes have deep friendships with the opposite sex that have been nurtured over the course of years. Those friendships MUST change. (Reread suggestion #2 and think about this.)
Make sure you are your husband’s biggest fan. Tell him daily how thankful you are for him. Keep nagging at a minimum. Be as respectful as possible when disagreements arise. Don’t let the immoral woman have any shot at winning your man. Respect and admire him and he’ll be much less likely to hear anything she’s saying.
Do everything you can to protect your eyes from temptation. The problem of porn is not going away anytime soon. Surely, it will only get worse. So protect your eyes (Job 31:1).
Just don’t forget to guard your heart as well (Prov 4:23).
[1] http://www.covenanteyes.com/2013/02/19/pornography-statistics/
(David Maxson will be our first guest speaker in the July Summer Series. Please join us at 3:00 p.m. this coming Sunday, July 5).