It's uphill from here...

For the average student entering college, the battle for moral purity is already an uphill one. There are some Christian colleges and universities that allow students to express their religious beliefs and to form opinions based on those beliefs. But for the average student who attends a secular college or university, it is becoming more and more difficult to write or verbalize statements that reflect a belief, or dependence upon, God.

The prevailing beliefs on such campuses are that there are no moral absolutes, that sex is little more than entertainment, and that there are no consequences for behavior that crosses the lines of decency that society has drawn for decades. Those beliefs in themselves can throw up spiritual roadblocks and open wide the trap-doors of moral cesspools.

To be sure, there have been Christians for centuries who have earned the reputation of speaking without first kicking the brain into gear. God expects us to use the minds that He has given us to make informed decisions and to form opinions based upon reality. But don't allow those whose job it is to inspire you to think to also inspire you to ignore the dictates of your heart - the heart that God gave you.

College bound...

man at computer Many young people approach high school graduation with the anticipation that they are about to enter adulthood. They develop a mindset that says, "I am now officially an adult." With their newfound adulthood comes the ability or authority to make more of their own decisions and choices.

Some of those choices and decisions are innocuous. But others can be detrimental. One of those decisions that is most disturbing to us is the one to dive into the pit of pornography use and abuse. The young person may have already been using porn to some extent, but the amount of porn used often increases dramatically when the student leaves home. Exact numbers are difficult to pin down, but it is known that many freshmen college students download an inordinate amount of pornography during their first few days away from home. This is true at secular and religious colleges. Colleges are normally wired with high speed or broadband Internet connections. Freshmen (new adult) students are usually away from home for the first time. Put those two factors together with a sexually charged society and raging hormones and you have a recipe for the beginnings of an addiction that no student ever sees coming.
So, what's the big deal about a little porn use?

On the surface it may look like nothing to get excited about. But hidden beneath the glossy images is a poison that has the ability to take a person down if it is abused even slightly. A little won't do. A little is almost never enough. The more a person uses porn, the harder material he requires to achieve the same level of satisfaction. Soon, and without warning, that young man who left home as the star pupil who never had problems with drugs or alcohol finds himself a slave to pornography. As a slave to porn, he has at least that part of his life that is out of control. He unwittingly sets himself up for possible failure as a husband. He plants the seeds that can, if cultivated enough, grow into a life of financial ruin and a life where personal and spiritual relationships are at best, shallow.

The key to developing and maintaining a life of purity is not always as obvious as it should be. That is, stay away from things that tempt one into sexually impure situations. Don't go to places that feature provocatively dressed people as employees. Don't watch movies that contain sexual situations and especially nudity. Stay away from morally loose television channels such as MTV. If you find yourself having a hard time staying away from enticing programs, cut the cable. Need it for Internet access? Get the Internet without the television programming. And if possible, filter your Internet connection.

Accountability is important.

We strongly suggest that college students maintain an accountability partnership with someone. That accountability partner can be a friend or perhaps an older man who attends the student's church. Whoever it is, the partner needs to be one who will ask tough questions, then stand there flat-footed until the young person gives a candid answer. An accountability discussion is not a trial or an inquisition. It is a time to look at the past few days with open eyes and to discuss the temptations, failures, and successes that may have occurred.

It is easy for the student to "write off" older people because they are seen as being out of touch and therefore incapable of understanding the pressures that the student experiences on a daily basis. The reality is that there are a lot of men who have been exactly where that student is in the world of temptation. Some of them failed quite miserably, then got back on their feet. They learned valuable lessons that any student could profit from. The seemingly saintly, has-it-all-together elder in the church might at one time have been a disaster waiting for a place to happen. The point? When it comes to accountability partners, look around. They may come in some surprising packages.

Your spiritual relationship is very important. Pornography has a way of standing in the way of a fruitful relationship with God. He wants His best for you - a life of moral dedication. He doesn't declare certain activities to be sins or off-limits just for the sake of messing with your natural inclinations. Quite to the contrary, He declares His opposition to certain types of behavior because He knows they have a way of causing great harm to you or to the people you love. He is relationship oriented. He wants a pure, undefiled relationship with us, and He wants us to have the same kind of relationship with our loved ones.

Try it. Work at it. We promise you that a sexually pure life - a life free of sexual immorality and porn use - will be worth every second of effort you put into it.

Print this page.