Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes Below is a synopsis from our group discussion on Ch. 2 Discipline of Purity To return to the discussion page, simply close this window. Our discussion began like last week...simply catching up with the past weeks events. We started the discussion by talking about the need to exercise self discipline. The discussion basically stayed on the topic of how destructive "sex" can be for a man. The chapter began with a discussion on how David fell and that was due largely to his becoming too comfortable with his relation with God. It is easy for a lust for "sex" to also lead to a lust for worldly things. When "we" allow ourselves to become consumed with seeking anything, it quickly can consume you. As pointed out in the reading, the Devil will use this "lust" for things to lead us away from God. The Devil is not trying to have us hate God, but more simply to "forget" about God. That alone can be very self destructive. If we begin to "forget" about God, we can easily "forget" to follow his commandments. In our discussion a "story" was shared and it went like this: A son asked his dad if he could watch a questionable movie. He told his dad it only had a small amount of inappropriate material. the day replied, let me sleep on it tonight. The next morning when the son woke, he could smell the wonderfully aroma of brownies baking and he hurried into the kitchen to see his dad removing a pan of freshly baked brownies from the oven. Eager to have some, the dad stopped the boy and said I do have some information to share with you...while making the brownie, I ran short of chocolate so I substituted some dog poop and added it to the mix. It was only a very small amount, but it should be ok if you eat them. The son looked up at his dad and understood why he had objected to his son viewing the questionable movie. This is by far one of the most difficult struggles we as men have, the temptation of sex. Sex has ruined many a marriage, career, and even ones spiritual life. At times it might even come to be that a Godly man is better at hiding their destructive behavior from others. We hide behind the facade of being holy and "godly." We then read from Eph 5:1-9 and Prov 5:1-13. How should we gauge if we should or should not engage in an action can be helped if we ask a simple question, "Would God (or Jesus) accept what we are doing? Would they approve?" The Devil will test us over and over again and again and it is during those times of testing that we need to be the strongest. The Devil even tested Jesus many times. It is not the temptation but how we react or deal with those temptations that will reveal our true character. During these testing times is when we need to surround ourselves with brotherly support (2Tim 2:22), surround us with those who are good! Our discussion then diverted into a discussion of whether we are born evil or born good? Evil is "of this world" and we are to seek good. We are to walk in the light of Christ for all fall short of the glory of God and need to repent of our sin. Why do we allow others to "walk" all over us? Does the act of forgiving others in turn allow them to walk over us? Forgiveness is one of the more difficult things in life to do. When someone "wrongs" us, how often do we hold that against that person? We are to forgive others as we seek forgiveness from not only Christ but others as well. We need to remember that is very easy for us to fall. When we think we have it all under control, that is when we need to be on our toes the most. To make an analogy we compared it to snow skiing and motocross ridding. Just when we feel we have it "mastered," we trip up and fall. Just when I have felt that I had the slop nailed, I'd catch an edge; just when we feel we have the motorcycle under control, we take a spill. We need to pray for "purity" and pray with a vengeance and daily. We need to pray not only for others but ourselves. No matter how we may hide it from others, it is NEVER hidden from God. He sees our heart, and if committed in our heart, he views it just as if we actually have done that which we "think" are hiding. This lead to our final discussion of "rationalization" as the book discussed. How often do we do this? We are only human and how often have we tried to say to ourselves, "well, it didn't hurt someone else." Or, I did this or that because I needed this or that. No harm no foul! Pray for specifics, don't dance around what God already knows is in our heart. As soon as we confess it with our lips, we are forgiven. It is us who keeps bringing up the old stuff...over and over again and again. Forgiveness is in the asking...have "we" accepted our forgiveness and in turn forgiven others? I know I'm guilty of not forgiving as Jesus has forgiven!