Sexual Immorality Messes Up the Body

Sexual Immorality Messes Up the Body

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”[2] But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body[3] and in your spirit, which are God’s.

(1 Corinthians 6:12-20 NKJV)

All sins affect relationships, but sexual sin affects yourself. Sexual sin harms other people as well. But just because you think sex is a good thing – because it feels good – does not mean it is helpful. This is what Paul tries to show in these verses. Sexual sin has a harmful effect on many things.

Sexual sin is committing any kind of sexual act that is outside of a marriage relationship. For Christians, sex is to be enjoyed with your spouse. It is not to be enjoyed just for yourself. Paul refers to a quotes:

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”
“Everything is permissible”

People think all kinds of food is good for the stomach. But we know that some foods harm your stomach. People think “everything goes”, but we know that not everything in your life is helpful.

Just as cigarette smoke is harmful to the lungs, and just as alcohol is harmful to the liver, sexual immorality is harmful to your body. What does it mess up?

Sexual immorality messes up your mind

It created memories and thoughts that are misunderstood when the thoughts are recalled. For example, love equals sex, and sex equals love. In reality, sex is a byproduct of true love. Sex is a byproduct of true love the way God intended for two people (a man and a woman) in a marriage relationship. However, many people who engage in sex outside of this boundary have their minds messed up.

They think: “He will really love me if I have sex with him.” “To keep her, I have to sleep with her.” But after you have engaged in any kind of sexual relationship, your memory is affected. You can’t remember what true love is. You think the feelings that came from the sex were true love moments. But then you realize, the other person did not care about you and so you walk away confused. You think: “Did he really love me?” “Do I really love her?” Your answer becomes a big “No.”

Sexual immorality messes up your mind by changing the way you think toward other people. Other people become objects of desire and not people to love. Your desire changes from thinking about the best for that person to thinking about what you can get out of that person.

Sexual immorality messes up your mind by acting like a virus in your mind.

Just as a computer virus messes up good programs on your hard drive, sexual immorality can mess up good things in your body. Wrong sex leads to disease, sickness, mental problems, and dark thoughts.

Sexual immorality messes up your mind by changing how you feel for other people. Feelings come from the mind. You associate feelings with people, thoughts, actions, places, smells, sights, and sounds. When you engage in sexual immorality, you mess all these associations up in your brain. The way you feel about other people changes because your mind has changed the way it thinks about that other person. This is how someone can fall “out of love” with someone else.