In the Harry Potter series, the villain Voldemort, longing for immortality, breaks his soul into seven pieces. He believes that if he can split his soul into seven objects, even if one part is destroyed, the other parts will live on. But the consequence of creating a Horocrux was unspeakable. A fractured soul is an un-whole self, broken beyond comprehension. In Albus Dumbledore’s words, Voldemort was a “maimed and diminished soul.”
Sexual sin offers a similar lie to us. Sexual temptation suggests that fidelity won’t satisfy. If one sexual partner is good, more partners will be better. Why not experience pleasure with multiple partners? Think of what you are missing out on. Consider what that one partner doesn’t give you. Or, if you’re not married, how do you know you ever will be married? What does it hurt to fast forward that pleasure to now?
The voice of sexual temptation has a thousand answers to our rebuffs. We need a louder, clearer voice of warning than the persistent whine of temptation. In Proverbs 7, Solomon warns his son against the dangerous tongue of sexual temptation,
With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death. (Prov 7:21-27)
Dramatic much, Solomon? Our world looks at those words and shakes its collective head. “What a prude.” Sexual sin doesn’t lead to death and hell.
But don’t forget that Solomon is speaking from his own frailty. Solomon was a sexually broken man born out of his father’s sexual sin. In 1 Kings 11:1-4, we learn this heartbreaking history of Solomon,
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Solomon knew what it was to have his soul blackened by sexual sin. In 1 Corinthians 6:16, Paul tells us that, “he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” If Paul was right, Solomon was in far worse shape than Voldemort. His soul was torn into a thousand pieces.
Brothers and sisters, listen to Solomon. Don’t treat sexual sin flippantly.
Our world encourages our promiscuity. It’s worse: our world tells us that to deny our desires is to deny who we are. But you are not your desires. God has purposed your desires to be fulfilled in him. You are called to be whole, not broken. Your identity in Christ is as a saint: your heart perfectly aligned in Christ, not shattered in sin.
Have you sinned sexually? I probably don’t need to convince you of the soul-impact of your sin. Do you carry the impact of your sin still with you? I’m so sorry. Know that there is nothing beyond the span of God’s forgiveness. There is no sin he cannot forgive and no heart that is beyond his mending. There may be repercussions of your sin, but you are his. In Christ, what was broken, will be repaired. His shattering can make you whole.
Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash
For further reading on lust :
Does Jesus Tell us “We Can’t Get No Satisfaction?” Our Struggle Against Lust.