Have you ever thought about how certain movies might be seducing you into having unrealistic thoughts about your relationship?

What types of movies do you enjoy watching? What attracts you to these movies? Be honest here…

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Sarah loves to go to the movies, especially when there is a love flick showing. She enjoys watching two people fall in love and all the drama involved in it. When the movie is over, Sarah walks out fantasizing about how it would feel so good to be in love like that again! Seduction has just led her down the path of longing for more. For a moment, seduction has allowed her to relive those wonderful feelings of falling in love. However, after awhile she comes down from the emotional “high” and feels rather down. She misses those first feelings of love. She begins to think about how that would feel again if it were to happen and who with. She believes there is no real harm in playing this scene out in her mind, after all, who will know? Have you ever been in Sarah’s boat? Do you ever find yourself thinking about what your next husband will be like should anything ever happen to yours? Its amazing how one thought not halted can lead to an entire fantasy! I never thought about there being anything wrong with having thoughts like that. I didn’t realize I was putting myself in a compromising position. When you entertain thoughts such as these, you begin to have conversations in your head with the imaginary characters in that scene. I found it interesting what I discovered when I was researching books on this topic. Shannon Ethridge’s Every Woman’s Battle discussed this very idea. On the topic of “rehearsing” she says, “We are rehearsing when we think about the conversations we would have with a particular man if we were ever alone with him, when we entertain thoughts of an intimate rendezvous, or wish that a certain man would take special notice of us. When we rehearse these scenarios, we imagine what we’ll say and do in these encounters. Then when Satan lays the trap and leads that man in your direction, guess what? We are more than likely going to play the part exactly the way we have rehearsed it.”

How does that speak to you? _______________________________________________________________________

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I remember when I went to see a very popular movie that involved a love drama. It appeared to be a sweet love story about young people falling in love. However, when I left the movie I was in tears! I think I was crying for several reasons. One, it had a sad plot. Two, it dug up old feelings I had buried and had put behind me. Three, it left my soul longing for a love like that. It left me longing for to sweep me off my feet.

What started out to be a good story left me feeling empty and depressed. Movies may not have that affect on you, but I do know some women on whom it does. If you are one that does not follow your feelings, then you will likely not struggle with this. However, for the women who struggle with following their feelings, do you think these types of mental fantasies are a form of adultery? Why or why not?

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Let’s look at the Bible for a reference on the answer to this question. The Bible teaches in Matthew 5:28 that if we look at someone lustfully we have already committed adultery with our hearts. For example, we are looking at a man lustfully if we are mentally replacing our husband’s face with another man’s face during sexual activity. Our hearts are very misleading. Scripture tells us we are committing adultery in our hearts when we visualize another man.

Please read Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” It is clear that from this verse our hearts are deceitful. They are not to be trusted. If your heart tells you its okay to fantasize, think again. God clearly warns us our hearts are not to be trusted.

Can you think of a time you followed your heart and it proved to be deceitful? What did it deceive you about?

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Everything we choose to fill our minds with will end up being stored in our hearts. Read Luke 6:45. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

If the words that come out of my mouth come from what I have stored in my heart, then I want to store up good things in it. After having the knowledge about how powerful our words can be in determining our actions, I want to speak out good things. In order to do this, I have to be filling my mind with Godly things which then fills my heart with good things. If what we are watching involves “evil”, then we are storing up evil in our hearts. Let’s begin to ask God to convict our hearts when we are allowing evil into our hearts and minds.

Name some things that can feed your mind with the things of God in replacement for ungodly TV shows, books, or movies?

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You might choose to listen to teaching tapes in the car by Christian authors. You can check your church library for your pastor’s teachings on CD for listening to in your car. You might pick up a good Christian book at the bookstore. Consider getting involved in a women’s Bible study through a local church. I promise as you begin to replace the worldly things with the things of God you will not be disappointed. Satan is always trying to offer counterfeits to the things of God. If you indulge in the counterfeits, they will eventually leave you unsatisfied every time! The enemy wants you to believe the things of God are boring, nothing could be further from the truth.