Joseph was in Potiphar's house as a slave. You know the story. Potiphar's wife had her "eye" on him and the first opportunity that availed itself, she tried to seduce him into having sex with her. What was his reply? He didn't answer her by telling her that they couldn't because Potiphar might find out, or one of the other servants might see, or any other excuse. His answer was plain-- "how can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
When we are faced with the temptation to sin, it is good to have a deterrent to that sin, but the real deterrent is that we will not sin against God. Some people reframe from sexual immorality because they are afraid of getting pregnant or a disease, etc. Some reframe from lying and cheating because they are afraid of getting caught. Some reframe from breaking the law because they are afraid of going to jail. Some don't engage in other sinful behavior for fear of losing their family. Again, these are all praise-worthy deterrents, but the reason we don't engage in sin has to be deep rooted in our love and fear of the Lord. The reason being because our minds and feelings can change. We can "reason" ourselves out of our deterrents. Our conscience is a good deterrent, but we can ignore it and eventually "sear" it. For example, the teenage girl who won't have sex with her boyfriend out of fear of her parents finding out or of getting pregnant can easily change her mind once her living arrangement changes and one day she leaves her parent's home. But if her deterrent is grounded in her relationship with the Lord. She won't give in no matter where she is-- like Joseph.
We need to see sin through the eyes of God. We need to understand that it hurts His heart each time we sin. We need to realize that sin is always against Him. We should never forget that God sent His One and Only Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross to save us from our sins. If we love Him, we don't want to sin against Him or hurt Him through sinful actions.
Have a great day. The greatest deterrent to sin is our love and fear of the Lord.
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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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