The Danger of a Lack of Discipline

The younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

–Luke 15:13

Pleasure in and of itself is not wrong. But pleasure becomes a problem in three cases. First, pleasure is wrong when it is in excess. Second, pleasure is wrong when it becomes our life focus. Third and most obviously, pleasure is wrong when it violates the teaching of God’s Word.

As we’ve discussed pleasure this week, we haven’t talked about things like pornography or adultery that are obviously wrong since they violate the teaching of God’s Word. But I want you to see that there is a relationship between any pleasure in excess–whether it’s television, sports, or ice cream–and sexual immorality. If you cannot control yourself on the issue of pleasure, you are in danger of falling into sexual sin.

We see this in the story of the prodigal son. Luke 15:13 says he spent his share of his father’s estate on “loose living.” The Greek word translated as “loose” simply means wasteful. Once the son was free of his father’s restrictions, he enjoyed luxurious living. But in verse 30, after the prodigal son came home, his older brother said to their father, “This son of yours . . . has devoured your wealth with prostitutes.” Not only did the prodigal son live extravagantly, but his lack of discipline and his focus on entertaining himself likely led to sexual sin, as his older brother assumed.

There is a relationship between pleasure in excess and falling into sexual immorality. We see that in the life of King David. What led to David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba? A lack of personal discipline. Look at 2 Samuel 11:1: “Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.” As king, David should have been out fighting with his men. But I imagine David said to himself, I’ve already paid my dues. I’ll stay at home and let somebody else do the work. Because David neglected his responsibility, he was home when he shouldn’t have been. That evening, David saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his men, bathing on the roof next door, and he sent for her and slept with her. David’s focus on pleasure eventually led to his fall into sexual immorality.

When you say yes even to harmless things in excess, you are training yourself to become indulgent and setting yourself up for sexual immorality.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “Addicted to Pleasure” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.