Clash of Kingdoms
The war for the souls of men rages. The bullets are thoughts and the artillery are ideas. Somewhere in the deep recesses of the heart lives a rebellious nature that answers to to the sirens call of the seductress. The mind may know that the call is full of lies and poison and peril but still the fallen heart longs for her. The proverbs affirm her power of persuasion, “her lips drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil” and “many are among her slain”. We read the fine print of the contract that the transaction will cost us our testimony, our witness, our integrity, our prayer life, our wives and children, our faith, our very soul and yet we still hurriedly sign the contract with our blood hardly pausing enough to wipe the saliva from our chin. Such purpose, such calling, such love sold for vanity, a fleeting moment of ecstasy. This is the way of Esau and the heart of Cain! What woeful creatures men are and yet Jesus pursues us with a love unrelenting. What treachery lives within us, this Benedict Arnold of the soul, this passive fool whose feet are so quick to run to sin. What can a man do in this modern age of seduction? How can we deal with this traitor of the inner man? Has our Savior left us without weapons?
The Weapons of Our Warfare
2 Corinthians 10:5 assures us that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.” We have an arsenal at our disposal, that is, the man determined to be free does. One such weapon has the power to leverage a soul free from the entrenchment crippling passivity. Spiritual leverage, yes I like the sound of that because that is exactly what it does. Have you ever used a lever to dislodge an object too heavy to move otherwise, or split wood with an ax or used a wrench, or jacked up a car? Then you have experienced the power of leverage. Call it a longer handle or an equalizer or a bar, but it works. Leverage is the physics of power. Power is what wins wars.
How to get more Power
2 Corinthians 12:9 takes us to the root of the matter, “…but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness'”. In the Kingdom of light, power is obtained through submission. Now there is no inherent glory in weakness. Nobody boasts that their lawn mower won’t start because of a bad spark plug. We are happy when it is fixed and functions as it was intended, but we don’t sit around and embellish the fact that it wouldn’t start. Weakness and brokenness simply gives a man who is so knit together with pride and selfishness, a condition that he is unable to see or discern otherwise, the opportunity to see his need for help. This stripping away of blinding ego to perceive oneself through heavens eyes is the beginnings of humility and that my dear reader is the beginnings of true power. In a fallen world of prideful men, weakness is an opportunity for the Prince of Glory to show who He is.
Applying the Leverage Through Accountability
Wherever there is a Christian involved habitual sexual sin, you can be sure there is lying and hiding going on. Lying and hiding are what locks souls in these vicious cycles. Honesty and coming into the light are the way out. Liberty begins when we embrace the humility of giving another person full disclosure of the double life we have been leading. This is an unavoidable reality of the path to true freedom.
Accountability was the spring board for me personally that launched me to another level in the battle for freedom. Let me explain. Anyone can reach out for help after a fall. We do this to ease our guilt and unburden our conscience. However, when a man begins to call or reach out for help before he falls, when he wants to sin so bad he can taste it, but he reaches out anyway, the holy spirit answers with immense liberating power. Usually the degree of the temptation is relative to the degree of breakthrough. Struggling a little and call, little breakthrough. Struggling a lot and call, life changing breakthrough. I began getting hooked on the rush of power and glory I would receive by embracing the weakness of not being able to overcome alone. Here we have the root of the matter. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” “Whoever exalts himself will be abased and whoever abases himself will be exalted.” Our true condition and position is absolute spiritual poverty.
Accountability is, in essence, the admission that I am not able to beat this thing on my own. The pride and selfishness that fuels the insanity is chiseled away fall by fall (for those not content to stay bound). We vow never to do it again and overcompensate by trying to pray more, fast more, study more, only to see in the end that even these things were just more of “self” exerting energy to deliver “self” from the dominion of “self”. If we succeed at these spiritual gymnastics for any length of time, we often become “holy terrors” raining down judgment and condemnation on anyone not exerting as much apostolic energy as we are. Now am I saying don’t fast, pray and read your Bibles? Of course not. What i am saying is where the root is rotten so is the fruit. Let’s cut out the cancer and let you heal before we set you on a rigorous work out routine.
Lifestyle Humility
Here are the requirements we suggest for starting an accountability relationship. Make sure your partner is more spiritually mature than you are, not struggling with sexual sin, able to meet once a week for a least a half an hour and ask you direct questions about your life and integrity. In addition, they should be helpful in devising a specific plan of action in areas of concern or failure, be available to call anytime you begin to struggle, and to pray for you everyday. How long should this relationship last? The answer is as long as you want to walk in freedom. One wise man said, “If you want to stay bound, tell it to Jesus. If you want to be free, tell it to Jesus and a brother, or sister in the Lord.” Free Indeed is dedicated to help people get free from the vicious cycles of sexual/porn addiction. If you need help or know someone who does, please direct them to freeindeedne.com
