To understand how to start walking away from things like pornography and shame, we must go through a detox. We have looked at this in previous blogs and podcasts. This involves confession, fasting, accountability, etc. However, to consistently walk in freedom, we need a solid understanding of who God is. The best place to start with this is God's Majesty. He is Majestic!
This is a reminder that at pornfreeshamefree, we believe in faith based recovery. In other words, if God is not involved, then complete recovery is not possible. We believe that what the Bible teaches about God and creation and redemption is true. Please note that we also don't think you need to check your brain at the door to believe this. See anything Sean McDowell or Josh McDowell has written on this subject. These guys are brilliant, and they are men of faith! With that said, Let's get started on this blog.
God is MAJESTIC!!!!! Let's look at a book in the Old Testament of the Bible, Isaiah. In Isaiah 6:1, we learn that King Uzziah has died. Let's back up. Who is Uzziah? Uzziah was King of Judah. Judah was the Southern Kingdom of God's chosen nation. He reigned for 50+ years, and 2 Chronicles 26 (another book in the Old Testament) would tell you that he was a good king. He feared God, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
Things went south for Uzziah later in his life. He became filled with pride and anger and lost his way. He decided that he wanted to be more than king of God's chosen nation. He thought he would try to take on the role of the Priest. He was confronted by 80+ priests, but he did not listen to their rebuke. God was not pleased with Uzziah's actions, and he struck Uzziah with leprosy. Ouch! Uzziah never repented and lived out the rest of his days quarantined with leprosy until he died. That is some serious pride!
Before we get back to talking about God's Majesty, let me touch on Uzziah's lack of repentance for a second. I help many men/young men who happen to struggle with intense shame because of porn or other aspects of sexual immorality. This shame if it goes unchecked can lead to pride. I used to be in that same place, and I am thankful that God rescued me. However, if I'm not careful, that shame and pride can take hold again. God's MAJESTY helped me humble myself before Him. I believe that God has called me to help these men/young men the same way He helped me. There is something interesting that I know about my own life and the lives of these men/young men. Everyone's "bottom of the pit" looks different. I know when I hit the bottom of my pit. I can remember it like yesterday! I am thankful that God let me hit the bottom of that pit. He humbled me in my pride and met me in my shame!
There are guys I help that I would think would be at the bottom of their pit. More times than not though, they respond like Uzziah. I have seen guys lose everything in their life that they love and it not produce a desire to change. That is scary! Uzziah was ill with a disease that could kill him. He was no longer able to lead the Kingdom that God gave him. BUT he still did not humble himself and beg the Lord for mercy. That is some serious pride. The book of James in the New Testament tells us that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. May God give me, may He give us, a posture of humility so we can be recipients of His grace! Sorry for the rant. Let's get back to the Majesty of God. In Isaiah 6:1, we see that Isaiah gets a vision from God in the same year that King Uzziah died. Now that we know how King Uzziah died, I think we can assume if we were Isaiah we would be paying very close attention to whatever the Lord would reveal to us. Uzziah's death was intense!
In Isaiah 6:1-5, we get a glimpse of the vision that God gave to Isaiah. Wow! What a vision indeed! The text says that Isaiah saw the Lord lifted high and exalted, seated on a throne. Visualize this in your head. Isaiah continues to describe the vision. He said the train of God's robe filled the temple. Let that sink in for a minute. God is so big that He wears a robe, and the train of that robe fills the entire temple of Gods's people. This is the temple that Solomon built. That temple was huge. Translation: God is BIG! He is HUGE! Isaiah catches a glimpse of this!
In this same vision, Isaiah sees angelic beings above God, and they are singing to Him. They are singing "Holy, Holy, Holy". Who are they singing to? They are singing to the One who is so BIG and HUGE that the train of His robe fills the entire temple, and when they sing, they sing about the Holiness and Glory of God. What a sight to behold!!! While they are singing, the doorposts and thresholds of the temple begin to shake, and smoke fills the temple.
Try to picture this in your mind. Imagine what Isaiah must have been thinking and feeling. I bet he didn't go up and try to give Almighty God a high five. I bet Isaiah wasn't trying to have some "buddy buddy" conversation with the Lord. In fact, we know he didn't do this because of his reaction in verse 5. Before we talk about his reaction in verse 5, let me just say this.
In our American Church Culture, we have lost a sense of God's Glory and Holiness, His Majesty. We flippantly treat our relationship with God like He's one of our buddies we connect with through text or social media if we aren't careful. Don't misunderstand me. God longs for relationship with us, and He desires to be our friend. Being friends with God and being "buddy buddy" with God are two different things. I can't be his friend if I don't humble myself and see my own sin and shame, and consequently see how much I have violated His Glory and Holiness and Majesty with that sin and shame. God wants me to see h ow much I have fallen short so I can in humility bring myself to Him and experience His gift of forgiveness. He wants me to see Him the same way Isaiah saw Him. In Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah says, "Woe is me." Why? He knows that He is "unclean" and that He has just experienced God's Holiness, His Majesty.
God does not want us to walk around in guilt and shame, but He does want us to have a healthy fear and reverence for Him. Our sin offends him, and only God can ultimately forgive that sin through Jesus! Yes, I am calling porn a sin, and every other aspect of sexual immorality as well. There are many other things that are sin too, like gluttony, greed, materialism, drunkenness, religiosity, pride, etc., etc., etc. Again, our sin offends this Majestic God! When is the last time you saw a clear picture of God's Holiness and His Glory? Did you respond like Isaiah? I challenge you to really think about these questions.
Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of His Majesty that makes us just be in awe of Him! That awe can lead to humility, and humility often leads to a life of worship of a MAJESTIC God!
