1 Corinthians 6:18 — Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

I did a lot of dumb things as a young man. Many of them are not stories for telling today but serve as reminders of God’s grace to the undeserving. One story I can share is about when in middle school, a friend and I spent the night together and planned to throw toilet paper in the trees of another friend’s house in the middle of the night. In Tennessee we called this “rolling.”

My buddy and I approached our friend’s house with a trash bag full of toilet paper. We snickered as we neared, anticipating the fun we were about to have. And once we stepped onto the lawn, we each grabbed our first roll and started launching the rolls into the towering oaks, maples, and birch trees filling the yard. The darkness of night soon gave way to the streaming white tails of toilet paper hanging from the trees. We laughed at one another as we aimed our best shots at the highest branches. Then suddenly, we heard the door open, and the silhouette of a male figure emerged into view. We ran. There was no waiting around to see who it was or to have a conversation with that person. We fled down the street, laughing with each step, as we made our way back to my buddy’s house.

The Bible tells us that our response to sexual sin, and all sin, should reflect this retreat. Our passage today tells us to “flee from sexual immorality.” Run. Don’t stand by or wait to see how it goes. Don’t flirt with it, seek to manage it, or believe you can only wade so far into the water. We must flee it. 

All other sins we commit are outside the body, but our sexual sin is a sin against our own body. It is a desecration of our body. God made our bodies to honor and glorify Him. We are not free to simply do anything with it we want. It is to serve Christ in obedience. We must flee all forms of sexual immorality. This includes lust, pornography, sex before marriage, same-gendered sex, and sex outside of marriage. These things have no place for the child of God.

Reflection & Journal:

- Why do you believe sexual sin is so prevalent in our culture today?

- Why is fleeing from sexual sin the best strategy to deploy?

- What are some practical ways we can flee from sexual sins?