"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity" Ephesians 5:3 (NIV).
"I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high?" Job 31:1-2 (NIV).
What does it mean to be a man of integrity? Job 31 issues a convicting challenge. In today's sex saturated society, a man might be tempted to think he's doing well if he doesn't cheat on his wife, but God calls his men to a higher standard, staking claims to their eyes, hearts and thoughts as well.
We often think that sexual decisions are things that are to be dealt with within a marriage. Yet a growing number of children and teens face this issue on a daily basis in our homes and school systems. Locker room discussions, rumors, television and friends are how children today are learning about sex. It's not that parents aren't watching what their young men are doing but it is the little images captured in their minds that parents tend to forget about that often cause the problem. Statistics show that 30 % of most young Christian men don't even have a father or a mentor to look up to or ask questions. When young men experience sexual problems, they learn quickly that there is a "code of sexual silence" that occurs because no one talks about these issues at home.
A good way to look at this is through this example. It takes 20 seconds to look at an image in Playboy, but 20 years to forget what you see. A man's eyes are the most dangerous part in his body. Men are stimulated visually, this is often where every man's battle begins. Everything that men see influences their perception whether they know it or not. Each visual image is stored inside the brain and most likely pulled out again whenever a man is sexually stimulated.
According to Christian Retailing magazine, 90% of all men regularly struggle with sexual temptation.
