Run Forest, Run! What a movie. What a line. But does it provide insight that we’ve overlooked? Perhaps. We want to be good enough, tough enough, strong enough. But we can’t. The Bible gives a clear image of how to handle sexual immorality. Run my friend, Run!

So why don’t we? First, we assume everyone around us is doing well. That everyone else can fight against sexual immorality. That everyone else can watch sexual images and be ok. Watch romantic stories and not fanaticize. Engage in sexual conversation and not have our minds wander into inappropriate thoughts. But it’s not true. We cannot stand against it. We must run from it. 

Second, we have misdefined what sexual immorality means. We hold that it is the heinous sins that the world commits. Things like homosexuality and transgender issues flood our minds when we think “sexual immorality”. But what about the shows we watch. The books we read. The thoughts we have. What about our children in dating relationship? The affection they show. The intimacy they share. 

I remember as a young man how sexually attracted and motivated I was and am. In my dating relationship I had become convinced that I was “allowed” to be sexually minded towards my girlfriend, but we just couldn’t have sex. But this isn’t true. Christ said I could not lust after any woman that wasn’t my wife. And that included my girlfriend. 

I don’t want to miss the point of this article by drawing your mind to my and your dating experiences. But the point of the illustration is to show how we have failed to flee. We have been told we can manage it. Much like we think we can manage most our sin. But we can’t. We need to unplug the areas of sexual immorality in our life. 

So what’s stopping us? Fleeing, running and unplugging are inconvenient. They ask something of us. If you’re single it could mean a complete mind shift. A complete change in how you spend your time, and how you entertain your free time. It could mean limiting your freedom to pursue holiness. It will definitely mean turning your heart towards your one true love, Christ. 

If you’re married it will mean all the same for you with one unique addition. Giving yourself to your spouse. Yes, have sex. Right after being told to flee in 1 Cor 6:18, the married person is told: “The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs.” Isn’t it crazy how Satan will open the gates of hell to have us be sexually immoral before marriage, and then in turn will unleash a war to keep you from sex in marriage. (The depths of this thought will be covered in another post). 

If we practiced fleeing from all the wrong sexual things, and ran towards all the good sexual things of God in marriage, how beautiful would our world be? By running to sex in marriage only, we could begin to eliminate sex trafficking, pornography, adultery, abuse and all the other smut that the world produces to try to fill our sexual desire. Whether you have filled your life and mind with homosexuality, or a romantic fantasy about someone other than your spouse. It’s sexual immorality and Gods prescription is to run. So as you get ready to run, don’t just run away, run to God. He loves you. He wants you and He has holy desire for you. 

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body