Bible Passage: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” (Ephesians 5:1-3 ESV)
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 4:6-7
Look at the structure of the three verses in today’s passage.
Before Paul writes a word about sexual immorality, he calls us “beloved children.”
After the instruction on immorality, he calls us saints.
The command to have nothing to do with sexual immorality is sandwiched directly between two statements about a person’s identity in Christ.
This gives us a clue as to how we can respond to temptations—and why men need to set up boundaries in their lives regarding lust.
Consider this example:
A good and faithful husband has a female coworker who, out of nowhere, asks him out on a date. It takes him about half a second to say no.
Why?
It’s not because he is gritting his teeth, trying hard not to give in.
It’s because of who he is as a faithful husband and the covenant he already belongs to.
His identity and covenant are already established, and the invitation to cheat only reminds him of who he already is and who he belongs to. The temptation reminds him of his identity and the covenant he committed to.
That’s exactly how God wants us to respond to every temptation we face.
The urge for pornography, lust, or any other sexual vice isn’t meant to be a battle we fight in fear that we might give in.
It’s meant to be a reminder of who God says we already are.
When we let temptations and desires remind us of our godly identity, we can begin to learn how to walk out that identity.
Ephesians 5 calls us beloved children and then says to walk in love, so every desire can lead us to meditate on the question, “What would it look like for me to walk as a beloved child of God right now? What does it look like for me to respond to temptations as a saint in God’s kingdom?”
Most men who try to respond to temptations only with self-control and discipline end up giving in to sin anyway. When we learn to respond from our God-given identity, we align ourselves with Scripture, and freedom from sin is inevitable.
Prayer: Father, thank You for adopting me into Your family. You call me Your beloved child and set me apart as a saint in Your Kingdom. I’m not totally sure how to walk in these identities, but I really want to. When temptation to sin comes, help me stop trying to fight it from a place of willpower, fear, or feeling defeated. Remind me in that moment who I already am in You. Please let Your truth about me and our relationship be what turns me away from darkness. Amen.
Reflection: The next time you feel tempted by sexual sin, or any other desire, which God-given identity label will you dwell on?
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