Proverbs 5-7: Three Wise Pieces of Advice Concerning Sexual Temptation

"Keep your way far from her, and do not

go near the door of her house. . ." Proverbs 5:8

"Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do

not let her capture you with her eyelashes. . ." Proverbs 6:25

"Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;

do not stray into her paths. . ." Proverbs 7:25

The Bible speaks a lot about how to avoid sexual temptation. Why? Because we are a people who struggle with it greatly. Oftentimes we attempt to blame the sexual culture around us for our struggles, but just open the pages of scripture, and you'll find that all people of all ages have struggled in the area of sexual temptation. This includes people young and old, male and female, married and single. We all have the capacity to fall greatly in the area of sexual temptation. Yet, scripture provides us with practical wisdom on how to avoid it. This morning, we examine Proverbs 5-7 and find three wise pieces of advice concerning sexual temptation.

Firstly, do not flirt with temptation. In Proverbs 5:8, Solomon encourages his reader to not go near the door of the adulteress's house (full verse quoted above). In other words, we ought not to flirt with sexual temptation. Many times, our thinking goes like this: Well, I know that sexual sins are wrong, but surely it wouldn't do any harm to get close to committing them, even though I surely am strong enough to refrain from actually sinning. To think this is to be a fool. Scripture doesn't permit us to creep up to the line of sin; rather, it tells us to run from it. For to flirt with the line of temptation is to play with fire, which will surely burn us in the end (see Prov. 6:27). To flirt with temptation is to have an alcoholic build his house next to a bar--it simply isn't wise.

Secondly, do not desire mere external beauty. Proverbs 6:25 (quoted above) commands us to not desire the external beauty of the adulteress. Now we must be careful here. To desire external beauty is not wrong, and if you wish to disagree with me, let me encourage you to read Song of Solomon first. Nevertheless, what scripture warns us here today is desiring mere external beauty. It is not wrong to desire a spouse that you find attractive but to desire that and only that is to be led down a path of adultery. If all you desire is physical attraction, why not be with the adulteress? If what you value is mere external attraction, you will always be chasing whatever woman (or man) you find most attractive at the current time. Let us remember that external beauty is always fleeting, but internal beauty is always growing. Thus, to be attracted to the first without the second is to set yourself up for destruction.

Thirdly, do not follow the crooked path. Scripture tells us in Proverbs 7:25 that to follow the adulteress is to turn aside from God's ways. Thus, the solution to overcoming sexual temptation is simple: stay on God's straightened arrow. Although this may be easier said than done, let us not overcomplicate this: to follow God is to run from adultery. There is no middle ground. If you call yourself a follower of God, you will seek to remain on his path and not turn astray to any sexual temptation. For to do so would be to "stray" into the path of the adulteress and to turn your heart to her ways. Rather, let us be men and women who forsake such evil paths, holding onto the Christ who has set us free from our sin.