The book is authored by Neil T. Anderson and Mike Quarles. I’ll talk about the other books I’ve read by Neil T. Anderson, but this post is about this book.
First and foremost, this book has been very eye opening for me. It is not a very long book, only about 150 pages, but it is powerful. I don’t have any problems with drugs or alcohol, so these addictive behaviours don’t effect me, but I have had a long history of sexual sin, so this is the lens from which I see when I read a book like this.
Here are just a few of the lines that I have underlined in the book:
pg 12 – “This is one of the greatest tragedies of addiction: Growth in character and emotional development are arrested.”
pg 29 – “Sexually addicted people crave another look, but when they hve had their fill, they tear up the pictures and vow to never look again – until tomorrow”
pg 50 – “The Lord loves us too much to allow us to walk in darkness and live a lie”
pg 60 – “[We have] the impression that eternal life is something we get when we die, which is not true. Read 1 John 5:12 (NIV) ‘He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ Every child of God is alive in Christ right now.” (emphasis is from the book)
pg 76 – 1 Cor. 6:19-20 “We are no longer slaves to sin. We are bond servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only when we realize this truth and embrace it are we able to make the kinds of choices that allow us to live inthe freedom theChrist purchased for us at the cross”
All this led me to read Romans 7, 8 & 9. And these chapters really emphasized to me that I don’t have to die to sin, that happened on the cross and when I accepted Christ as my savior. So I don’t need to die to sin, I just have to accept that I already have.
Next, the chapters in Romans showed me another important fact. Something that I have always known, but realized that in the area of sexual purity, I have not put into practice. This is that I am a slave to Christ. Simple enough right? But in the area of sexual purity, I have been a slave to sin, and let it rule me. But about a week ago I started, as part of my daily ritual, to claim the members of my body to Christ, and reject any notion that sin has power over my body. If Christ is for us, who can be against us? Right?
So what does this mean in a practical sense? In means that when I have felt the need to act out, I simply remind myself that I have surrendered my body as a slave to Christ, that I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, and in fact, I’m a member of Christ. And would a member of Christ sin in any way, much less fill their eyes with smut, lust after what they see, and even defile their “member” while doing it.
What do you think of that? Is that a motivator for you? Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts…
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Thanks for your honesty. I am going to check this book out.