The continuously unraveling scandal that has toppled the director of the CIA David Petraeus
and has entangled the top NATO commander in Afghanistan as well as an FBI agent sounds
more and more unfathomable by the minute. But, really, it’s a prime example of the severe
consequences of immorality.
It only takes a small pin to burst a balloon. When trust is gone and when there is a leak in
the integrity and character of a person, the explosion is quick and even startling. What has
taken a lifetime of hard work to build disintegrates swiftly with an act of immorality, an act of
indiscretion. You sacrifice your integrity, lose your credibility, and forfeit the right to lead.
I often speak to men about the sin of adultery and perversion because of the seemingly tolerant
attitude in society toward this sexual misbehavior. And once you cross that line, once you go
over the boundaries into sexual sin and engage in immorality, it becomes easier and easier to
justify it.
There are 12 points I share on how to maintain moral purity.
1) Recognize your potential for moral failure. Don’t say, “It can’t happen to me.” Don’t
say, “I’m immune to this” because you’re not. And if you’re not careful, if you don’t
watch and pray, if you don’t develop spiritual disciplines in your life, you’re more than
vulnerable.
2) Realize you don’t have to give in. Don’t say, “The living Christ is in me and yet I
couldn’t help myself.” You have the power of God’s Spirit; the Spirit of the living God
lives in you and will enable you and empower you.
3) Resolve to be pure; purpose in your heart not to defile yourself. And if you have fallen,
you can start over again. And you can say, “From this day forward, God, make me pure
and make me clean.”
4) Remove all bitterness from your life. Often, when a person becomes bitter, he’s upset
about something that becomes an excuse or a rationalization to say, “Well, I deserve this
pleasure.”
5) Restrain the flesh in all areas. Paul said in Romans 13:4: “Make no provision for the
flesh.” That speaks for itself.
6) Refuse to give in even for a moment. Fight this all the days of your life. I’ve known men
who have lived in moral purity all their days and then at the end of their life made some
foolish mistake.
7) Run from every form of evil. The Bible says to abstain from every appearance of evil.
8) Resist the devil. He’s the author of these lies. He’s the ultimate enemy. And in the name
of Jesus Christ you can resist the enemy.
9) Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.”
10) Renew your mind in the Word of God. Saturate your heart and your mind. Renew your
mind in the washing of the water of the Word of God.
11) Rejoice in the goodness and the grace and the forgiveness and the love of God. When
you praise God, you are empowered to be pure. Worship Him! Praise Him! Because in
the praise … the act of praise itself, we are enabled to overcome the work of the enemy.
12) Remember that you will give an account before a holy God and that’s a sobering
thought. Paul said, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? You
were bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus.”
It takes time to restore trust and credibility and integrity. It takes time, it takes counsel, it
takes the Word of God working in your life and cleansing your heart and your soul and
your mind and your will, and standing you back up again so that you can make a comeback
in your life by the grace of God. And we’re forever grateful for that grace that covers and
cleanses all sin.
Dr. Jack Graham is Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, a 32,000-member church near
Dallas, Texas. His popular book, A Man of God, challenges men to live with purpose and
passion.
