Boundaries - Part 1

Today I was reminded, as God often has to with me, about the destructive nature and devastating dangers of pornography. As I was studying Scripture today, there were several verses that I ruminated upon as I reminded myself of the boundaries that I've placed in my life. Here are a few of them:

1. Guard Your Heart

These words were often spoken to me by my Dad before leaving for a date, before heading off to college, before anything ... "Guard your heart, son!" he would say. And that has stuck with me. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life." Why? Because it is the source of life. That's pretty heavy. But what does it mean exactly to guard your heart? Obviously, we're not talking about a real flesh-and-blood battle requiring the safe-keeping of our blood-pumping muscle behind steel and chain mail. Not exactly. But, there is a battle involved. It's a battle for our spirits. For our purity. For our families. So, what does it mean? Well, Proverbs goes on to say,

25 Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.

26 Carefully consider the path for your feet,
and all your ways will be established.

Here's at least one thing that it means:

2. Bounce Your Eyes

One of the most practical principles I have ever garnished from any book on purity was this principle spelled out in Every Man's Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker. The principle was this: Bounce Your Eyes! Simply put: Move them off of anything that takes your mind down the wrong path, down the gutter, down the alley of mental adultery. Do it! Move them! And move them now! Keep them moving if you have to. Proverbs says, "Let your eyes look forward." This is a very literal thing for me when I go to the mall with Tasha (which, by the way, is about as frequent having our septic tank sucked clean). But when we do venture out there, eyes straight ahead is the key.

Guys, you know what I'm talking about. For men who are seeking to live godly lives, it means that we don't graze the mags at the checkout. And we don't surf Google images with questionable search words that we know are going to pull up garbage. We just don't do it. And we also don't use the excuse that "it's not porn!" Yes, it is. Soft. Hard. Rare. Well Done. Whatever you want to call it. It all draws our attention off of Christ and quite literally moves them onto images and ideas completely antithetical to all that He is about.

Wow, this is turning into a thesis and a quite a soap box. But only because I need to be reminded of it myself all the time. I'll finish this tomorrow as I draw on a few other verses of Scripture that have challenged the heck out of me today.