Stop Living in Sexual Darkness

Can you recall as a child being afraid of the dark? If you were one of those unlucky kids you can remember how frightening it felt when the lights went out and you tried to focus on going to sleep. But sleep was the farthest thing from your mind. Instead you were filled with thoughts of evil creatures and bad people that you thought were lurking around your room. man-in-dark[1] As an adult, most likely you are no longer afraid of the dark. But whether we admit it or not, we still spent much of our lives living in darkness, especially if you are trapped in the world of sexual addiction. What does it look like to live in darkness?

When we allow lust to control us we live in darkness
When we hurt the ones we love because of our selfish desires we live in the darkness
When we use others sexually we live in the darkness
When we put our sexual desires before God we live in the darkness
When we lie to cover up our sexual sins we live in darkness
When we betray or dishonor others we live in darkness

But as His children, God calls us to come out of the darkness and walk toward His magnificent light.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people longing to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9o

If we elect to remove ourselves from the darkness and move toward God’s light what changes would we expect to see? For the answer we have to look no further than Galatians 5: 22-23.

When we love we live in the light
When we experience joy we live in the light
When we bring peace we live in the light
When we demonstrate patience we live in the light
When we show kindness we live in the light
When we display goodness we live in the light
When we are faithful we live in the light
When we are gentle we live in the light
When we show self-control we live in the light

It is not easy to live in the light 24/7. Our self-centeredness and mentality of “I want what I want” gets in the way of living in the Spirit. It is a daily commitment we must make as we continue along the path of picking up our cross each day and dying for Christ. Some days we do it better than others. But there are many days we get pulled into acting upon worldly values instead of Spiritual values.

Moving toward the light starts with self-reflection and asking God to help examine your heart to see what is dark and needs correcting. We hate this exercise because it troubles us when we find darkness lying in our hearts (and we always do). Although we realize no matter how much we work to change our hearts there will still be some darkness in it come Judgment Day. Having the ability to walk in the light is one of God’s great blessings that we would be foolish not to pursue.

So, when will you come out of the dark?

Eddie Capparucci, MA, LPC is a licensed professional counselor with a private practice in Marietta, GA.