Ephesians 5:15-16 “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
The encouragement here is to be engaged in righteous living, alert and using the wisdom that comes from God and from His word.
Principle: Evil is on the increase, so re-examine your priorities, methods, and schedules.
Life these days is a battleground, not a playground. Men need to guard their hearts and minds against pornography for their own and for their family’s sakes. The porn industry is out to capture the minds and hearts of men and boys.
The average age of a child’s first exposure to internet smut is eleven years old and that age is dropping. The largest consumers of Internet pornography are 12-17 year old boys. Our children cannot do homework without fear of accidentally setting off a round of internet porn.
Filters and monitoring e-mails are partly effective, but operators of 5+ million websites are constantly figuring new strategies to push porn on unwitting users. Dads need to take the time and energy to protect their families.
It takes time to know your kids and know what they are doing. It takes wisdom to have the right filters and to un-plug whatever needs to be unplugged. It takes perseverance to keep fully informed about the enemy’s tactics. We need to support the efforts of front-line anti-porn organizations and apply legislative pressure. We need to pray that God will be with our kids when we cannot be. We need to guard and protect our own hearts in this area and be examples to our kids.
I have a friend who was hooked on porn. He uses a good visualization which helps him over come. When a fantasy image pops into his mind, he visualizes Jesus into the scene, as an observer. Jesus talks to the young woman in a loving, firm way and then He turns to my friend and says, “Do not do this. It is destructive to our relationship, to you, and your family.”
This is 100% true. If we are going to minister to our sons, in these evil days, God expects us to do so with wisdom. It takes time.
Discussion:
1. Discuss the visual changes in TV and movies that have taken place in the past ten years.
2. Do the statistics above seem low or high to you?
3. What tactics do you have to avoid the “lust of the eyes”?
