guest devotions

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GUEST DEVOTIONS
English and Chinese
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 says:
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
帖撒罗尼迦前书 4:3-8 说:
“因为这是神的旨意,就是你们成为圣洁,远避淫行;要你们各人晓得怎样用圣洁和尊贵守着自己的身体,不放纵私欲的邪情,像那不认识神的外邦人。不要一个人在这事上越分,欺负他的弟兄,因为这一类的事,主必报应,正如我预先对你们说过,又切切嘱咐你们的。神召我们,本不是要我们沾染污秽,乃是要我们成为圣洁。所以,那弃绝的,不是弃绝人,乃是弃绝那赐圣灵给你们的神。”
As an unbelieving teen, this scripture would have read like complete nonsense to me, because all I wanted to do was get next to some flesh of the opposite sex. After all, every music video, song on the radio, movie on the big screen and all of my peers seemed to drive home the very idea of sexual promiscuity. “If you’re not getting any, or trying to get it, something must be wrong with you,” is what the culture told me.
当我还是个不信主的青少年时,这段经文对我来说完全是无稽之谈,因为我一心只想着接近异性的肉体。毕竟,每一支音乐录像、每一首收音机里播的歌、每一部电影、以及我所有的同龄人,都在传递一个信息——性放纵才是人生的追求。“如果你没有性经验,或者不在追求性,那你肯定哪里出了问题。”这是文化对我灌输的观念。
So, I set my sights on one of the world’s greatest prizes and biggest lies: immoral sexual conquest. See, that’s the lie the world teaches young men, generation after generation. But the world doesn’t prepare young men for the reality and responsibility of those choices. Satan is a master at convincing people that sin is awesome. Once he has you hooked, you never see the price tag slowly approaching. And believe me, young man, every sin has a price attached.
于是我把目标锁定在世界最诱人的奖赏之一、也是最大的谎言之一:不道德的性征服。你看,这正是世界一代代灌输给年轻人的谎言。但世界却从不教导年轻人面对这些选择所带来的现实与责任。撒但非常擅长让人相信罪是美好的。一旦你上钩了,你就看不到那个逐渐逼近的代价。请相信我,年轻人,每一种罪都有其代价。
Because of my poor choices, my wife and I started a family long before I was responsible enough to cherish them; long before we were ever married; long before home ownership; long before coming to Christ. In some respects, we still have to deal with the consequences of those choices, 20 years later. But God took what Satan meant for bad, and turned it into something precious.
因为我当初的错误选择,我和我的妻子在我们还没准备好承担责任、还没有结婚、还没有自己的家、还没有信主之前,就有了孩子。即使到今天,二十年过去了,我们仍要面对那些选择所带来的一些后果。但神把撒但原本想用来害我们的事,转化成了宝贵的祝福。
Today, we try to teach each of our five children the value of remaining pure, and keeping close to God. The culture is saturated and infatuated with promiscuity, more so than it was in my teen years. God knew how tenacious Satan would be at attempting to destroy purity. So, He addressed the issue in the bible. One moment’s decision for short term pleasure can have lifelong and lasting consequences; the kind of consequences you might not be prepared to deal with. We need only look at the escalating rate of fatherless homes and broken families for proof.
如今,我们尽力教导我们的五个孩子要珍惜纯洁,并紧紧靠近神。这个文化对性放纵的沉迷,比我青少年时期更加严重。神早已知道撒但会极力破坏人的纯洁,所以祂在圣经中对这一点有清楚的教导。一时的享乐可能带来终身的后果,而这些后果你可能根本无法承担。看看如今不断增加的无父家庭和破碎的家庭,就能看出证据。
Promiscuity is not a requirement of the teen years. You don’t have to get intimately involved to find your mate. Be holy. Stay close to God, and save yourself for that one special person the Lord has designed for you. Your perfect mate will be worth the wait.
性放纵并不是青春期的必经之路。你不需要通过亲密关系来寻找你的伴侣。要成为圣洁,紧紧依靠神,把自己保留给那位神为你预备的特别之人。你那位合神心意的伴侣,将值得你耐心等候。

WHY?

1. Because the gain of it, is the loss of the soul - Matthew 16:25-26.

2. Because its friendship is enmity to God - James 4:4.

3. Because it did not know Christ - John 1:10; 17:25.

4. Because it hates Christ - John 7:7; 15:18.

5. Because the Holy Spirit has forbidden us - 1 John 2:15.

6. Because Christ did not pray for it - John 17:9.

7. Because Christ's people do not belong to it - John 17:16.

8. Because its Prince is Satan - John 13:31; 16:11.

9. Because Christ's kingdom is not of it - John 18:36.

10. Because its wisdom is foolishness - 1 Corinthians 1:20.

11. Because Christ does not belong to it - John 8:23.

12. Because it is condemned - 1 Corinthians 11:32.

13. Because it is passing away - 1 Corinthians 7:31.

14. Because it slew Christ - James 5:6; Matthew 21:39.

15. Because it is crucified to us - Galatians 6:14.

16. Because we are crucified to it - Galatians 6:14.

17. Because it is the seat of wickedness - 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 5:19.

18. Because its god is the evil one - 2 Corinthians 4:4.​
 
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