06/02/2026
The New World screwworm and a warning for our souls
Four common mistakes we make with sexual sin
by Dr. Jim Denison
If you’re looking for a nice devotional thought today, this isn’t it: A parasitic fly that eats animals alive has been found in Mexican sheep thirty-one miles south of the US border. The New World screwworm lays eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow through living flesh, eventually killing the host. An outbreak in Texas would cost the state’s ranching economy an estimated $1.8 billion.
I begin with this story because it illustrates the conversation we began yesterday. Like a screwworm that eats living flesh, sexual sin destroys our minds, marriages, society, and souls. Christians are by no means immune: 75 percent of Christian men and 40 percent of Christian women admit that they view po*******hy. In a recent survey, 23 percent of the pastors who responded admitted to sexually inappropriate behavior with someone other than their wives.
In what ways are Christians especially susceptible to sexual temptation? Let’s consider four common mistakes we make.
One: Not preparing to face temptation
Christians are a threat to Satan and thus the targets of his wrath (1 Peter 5:8). He wants to defeat us spiritually and destroy our witness.
He is especially adept at using sexual temptation for this purpose, since God created humans as sexual beings and intends us to experience sexual fulfillment within the covenant of marriage. Sexual impulses and desires are thus part of our makeup.
Accordingly, in a culture where “sex sells” nearly everything and po*******hy is more readily available than ever before, we should expect to face sexual temptation today and every day.
Two: Trying to win in our strength
Satan is better at tempting than we are at resisting. He doesn’t bother with the temptations he knows we can easily defeat in our strength. But he knows the temptations we cannot defeat in our ability, what the Puritans called “besetting sins,” so these are the strategies he utilizes.
He also knows that God will give us the strength to defeat every temptation if we turn to him for help (1 Corinthians 10:13). So our enemy employs temptations we cannot defeat ourselves but disguises them so that we will think we can.
In this way he lures us into sin as if it were quicksand. As we fight back, we inevitably become trapped. To shift metaphors, he turns the lights down slowly until we become accustomed to sitting in the dark.
As a result, every time we are tempted, we need to bring that temptation immediately to God. If we try to resist in our strength, we may win today but we will lose tomorrow. Conversely, if we develop the reflex of using temptation as a catalyst for prayer, we use Satan’s evil for God’s glory and experience “the victory that has overcome the world” (1 John 5:4).
Three: Refusing to seek the help of others
Sexual temptation can be embarrassing for believers to admit. But the church is the “body of Christ,” the visible manifestation of his continuing presence in the world. As a result, turning to fellow Christians for help is a practical way to turn to Christ. We can ask other believers to pray for us and to hold us accountable for godliness. We can do the same for them.
And we can utilize other resources to help as well. With digital temptations, Covenant Eyes and other tools can filter po*******hy and alert an accountability partner regarding our online activity.
Martin Luther was right: you can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.
Four: Succumbing to self-reliance
American culture is built on self-reliance. We applaud self-made success stories. But for Christians, self-reliance is spiritual su***de.
Paul advised us: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). This is because the Spirit is far more powerful than Satan. He can defeat every temptation we face and enable us to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). Zechariah 4:6 is a vital principle here: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts.” In his strength we can “abhor what is evil” and “hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
The key is admitting our weakness and then trusting his strength. This is why Paul testified, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
St. Augustine said of his own struggles with sexual sin, “Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity.” But he also noted, “Purity of soul cannot be lost without consent.” And purity of soul can be gained whenever we submit to the Spirit, for then “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Romans 8:26) and molds us into the holy character of Christ (v. 29).
How to choose “life and peace”
Now we have a decision to make every moment of every day: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). The stakes could not be higher: “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (v. 6).
Where will you “set your mind” today?
