Sex: Design. Distortion. Redemption.預覽

Prayer: As you start this day's devotional, take a few moments to reflect on your past. Pray over the parts of your life that have been marked by brokenness, especially those connected with your sexuality. Pray for peace and understanding as as you read through today’s message. "A ReDesign" My wife loves Disney...it’s an issue we are working through. For Christmas she bought herself a “Chip” coffee mug, which looks exactly like Chip from the movie Beauty and the Beast.  She was so excited about the mug and the fact that she could be “Beauty” every morning. The week after she got the mug, I was washing dishes and dropped “Chip” and broke him. My wife was disappointed, to say the least. With the broken mug in hand I had a decision to make:  Do we throw it away, keep using the broken mug, buy a new one, or just give up on all things Disney? When something is broken, do we give up, start over, or try to piece together what was shattered?  As we look back at our last week and God’s design for sexuality, I think it’s easy to think, “I can never put this back together.” For some of us, the pieces of our sexual past are so shattered that no repair can ever be found. God gives great news! In the midst of a broken life He re-creates and re-forms our shattered pieces. We do not need to give up to a broken sexual past. We do not need to give in to our broken sexual patterns. Instead, we can be re-formed into a new future. God creates us new in Christ by forgiving us of our past and giving us empowerment for a new future. We can start again if we embrace Jesus’ death to cover our sins and receive the Spirit to empower a new life. You can start today! Questions to Ask Yourself: 1. Do you ever feel like “giving up” on living a pure life or giving in to sexual sin? Why? 2. Do you believe that Jesus can forgive and empower you to live a life of freedom from a failed past? 3. If you really believed you were “new,” how would you view yourself differently? What’s Next: 1. Spend some time praying to Jesus asking for forgiveness and empowerment to follow Him. 2. Write out your name followed by “is a new creation” on a sheet of paper.  What new things can you now live for?