| Insights: Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5) The famous poet Robert Frost said, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Fences serve many purposes. The provide security and protection. They can keep children or animals in while keeping undesirable animals and even kids out. They can also establish the perimeter and boundary for the property. A fence is required for someone with an inground pool so that children are not tempted to swim unattended and experience harm. Robert Frost also said, “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.” Our culture is quickly dismantling the fences that have surrounded our sexuality. Since the beginning of the sexual revolution in the 1960’s, one fence after another has been taken down. We have developed from free-love to celebration of same-sexed marriage and are now experimenting with transgenderism. God has established fences for us in sexual expression and in our genders. We, as a culture, are taking those fences down, but don’t really know the full extent of the consequences. Paul the Apostle said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.”God has established a fence for us in our sexual expression. His word establishes the boundary as one man and one woman in a marriage as the only place for sexual expression. It is the fence that provides security, safety, and protection. May God help us stay true to him and to one another. |
Rick Rios, M.Theology
Luke 6:46-49
