Nicola hated being alone after her divorce. During the long winter nights, she would watch romantic movies and fantasize about meeting a man who would love her and care for her every need. She had never known such love. Her friends encouraged her to find a man, since she deserved to be loved as everyone else did. Nicole began to question what these Christians had been saying to her at church. How could it be God’s will for her to be so lonely? She did not want to be like this for the rest of her life. Surely God wanted her to be happy and since happiness meant being loved, Nicola decided to find a boyfriend. The result was that she started sleeping around, believing that she would eventually find the one man that was for her.

Who Decides?

Nicola has fallen for the same lie as Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. There we read that the snake convinced Eve that if they ate of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve would be able to know good and evil. In other words, instead of depending on their Creator, they would know for themselves what is right and wrong. Nicola has done the same thing, instead of trusting her Creator and Redeemer, she has decided for herself what is right and wrong, even when what she has done goes completely against what God clearly teaches in the Bible.

Renewed for Purity

In Ephesians, we learn that God has made us alive in Christ Jesus (2:5). We have come from being spiritually dead to being made alive in Christ. Being alive means that we are to go on and live in the new person that is created after the likeness of God. In chapter five we learn that this involves being sexually pure.

In 5:3-5 Paul teaches us that Christians are to be so sexually pure that sexual immorality, impurity, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking, and greed for what we do not have are to have no place in their lives. These things were not even to be talked about. Paul even goes on to say that anyone who is sexually immoral or impure has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Thankful and Pure

How are we to live? Surprisingly, by being thankful. Being thankful means that we are grateful for who the Lord is, what he has done in our lives, and what he has given us. Someone who is sexually immoral is discontent with the life that the Lord has given and is greedily craving for something that they do not have.

One of the ways that Nicola could enjoy the life that the Lord has for her is to practice being thankful. She can be thankful for all that the Lord has done for her throughout her life, for her salvation, for her friends, for the people in the church, and for her health. When she is feeling alone and tempted to entertain thoughts about what she believes that she needs in order to be happy, Nicola could start listing all the things that she is thankful for. If she was to do this, she will experience a change in her mindset which will help her to no longer be focused on impure things to provide the satisfaction she craves. Her craving her will be changed to a thankful heart and mind.