The Deadly Trap of Sexual Temptation

Of all the temptations in a young man's life, there is one that seems to be most fierce and destructive: sexual temptation.

In Part One of Proverbs (chapters 1-9), the son is vividly warned about sexual temptation five times in the space of the nine chapters.

1. “Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee … To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words” (Proverbs 2:11-19)
2. “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell …” (Proverbs 5:4-8)
3. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.” (Proverbs 6:23-35)
4. “... at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart … So she caught him” (Proverbs 7:6-27)
5. “Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.” (Proverbs 9:13-18)

Clearly, young men really need to wake up to the threat of seduction. And to do this, the wise father of Proverbs helps his son see sexual temptation for what it is … a deadly trap.

The father gets his boy to see beyond the flattery, whispered promises and bold eyes of the seductress to the consequences of being caught in her trap.

The tendency for a young man is to get caught up in the thrill of the moment. Young men are the risk-takers after all. Full of testosterone, impulsive, invincible.

But if a young man doesn't get discernment, he will join the company of the young mouse who lost his life for a bite of crumbly cheese. 

The picture of the mouse trap brings to life what is at stake when a man encounters a seductive woman.

The girl in the red dress catches the young man’s eye. She captures his attention and he forgets everything. Any sense abandons him and she becomes the sole object of his mind. In that moment, he wants nothing but her.

And so he follows his lust and steps into her seductive embrace. 

Another young man has been snared. Now consider the cost he will pay for the momentary thrill.

I'll let the wise father describe it. This is from Proverbs 5:9-11:

1. Lost honour: ‘Lest thou give thine honour unto others”
2. Lost time: “thy years unto the cruel”
3. Wasted money and labour: “Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger
4. Wasted body: “And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed …”

How many young men have lost their integrity, wasted their teens and twenties, wasted their resources and poured out their strength and youthful passion in the empty pursuit of sexual pleasure?

The father could actually have kept on listing costs, for there are many. 

Consider the cost a Christian man will pay for a bite of sexual sin. He will also lose his joy, his peace of mind, his fellowship with God, his burden for lost souls, his love for saints. Sin will blur his spiritual vision, dull his spiritual senses and stunt his spiritual growth. 

With hindsight, the cheese on the mouse trap never looks as good. The shiny thing loses its luster. The sweet thing is seen for what it is – poison. 

To step towards the seductive woman, whether in the city or online, is to embrace death itself. For temptation always leads to actual corruption. Things will literally begin to die all around us until we die ourselves. 

So watch out, men.

Many traps are set all around us.Expect them. Especially the snares that appeal to our sexual desires and masculine impulses.

May God grant us wisdom to see temptations for what they really are – assassination attempts.

And get ready to run. Our life for God depends on it.