Take Heed Lest You Fall

I love fairy tales. Just those two words send my mind into a world of awe and wonder. The way Beast looks at Belle, the way Eric swoons over Ariel. As little girls—and even as grown women—these stories awaken the God-given desire in us to be loved and pursued and wanted. Unfortunately, those same desires can be turned against us and cause us to become prime targets for Satan’s most effective tactic: dissatisfaction. Let’s face it: when we are satisfied in our relationship with God, we don’t go looking anywhere else. It is when we are in want that things get messy and ugly and can turn sinful.  

Fast forward two years ago, when I became a married woman. When my marriage wasn’t turning out to become the “fairy tale” I had imagined, and my husband wasn’t being the “prince” I wanted, I turned to something else to try to fulfill my unmet expectations and desires. I turned to Fifty Shades of Grey. 

One of the biggest reasons I believe I fell victim is because I told myself I was okay. I told myself that I would never struggle with any type of sexual sin whether it was premarital sex, masturbation, unfaithfulness, lust. Clearly the verse “Take heed lest ye fall” never seemed to apply to me. And that’s one of the biggest lies Satan tells us: I’ll be okay.” Over the next few weeks I’m going to specifically talk about Fifty Shades and its damaging effects, especially as Christians, but I’m also going to address sexual sin as a whole and why this is such a struggle for so many people. 

But today, I want to talk about why. Why did I become so engrossed in this particular novel? Why this book? I wholeheartedly believe one of the biggest reasons I turned to Fifty Shades is because I always thought that I wouldn’t struggle with it. And that is the point I want to drive home. 

The moment you let you guard down, that is when you are most susceptible. When Jesus went to prayed in the garden and came back to find the disciples asleep, he said, “What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41). Don’t ever for a second think that you are somehow invincible from a particular sin. That, my friend, is when you will stumble and fall. 

So watch and pray. Pray that God would show you any unconfessed sin, and ask Him to show you any areas of your life that you aren’t guarding. He is faithful. And He is good. 

In His love, 

Kayla