Ryan Swanson: Hello and welcome back to the Satisfied Program here in Thee Generation Podcast. Thrilled to have you back, and we’re about to start a new series. But first, let me just give you an update on where we’re at with the Cord app. We’ve had more and more interest in this, and again, I’m really excited about how things are going. We are encouraged with the progress in the development stages now of the app. A lot of code writing is going on with our team in Michigan working on this, and just thrilled with what they’ve done so far.
Our landing page has also been updated, so you can see that with the new logo and fonts in a promo video even by searching the cord.app. Put that into your browser, thecord.app, and that will route you to our landing page, and you’ll be able to watch that video. Appreciate the help from a friend of mine, Will, who flew all the way here to Greenville just to help me put together this video, and so it just kind of gives the heart behind the Cord app and explains the need a little bit. So maybe take a look at that and send that to people you know, send a link of that to your pastor or others that you think might be interested in this. We definitely want to hit the ground running with this thing, so get information out now and allow others to be a part of what God wants to do through this app. We are still looking for a release time this fall, October, November. I’ll be honest. I’ve got a goal. To have it published on the app stores by the Youth Summit this year, the Thee Generation Youth Summit, The War Max. I would love to have it done by that partway through October, but we’ll see. Either way, we are planning to have a table set up at the Youth Summit with some information and then hopefully also selling some merch there with the Cord app branding. So very excited about that, but just wanted to give you that update.
As I mentioned last month, we’re starting a series now looking at examples of victory, looking at testimonies from men and women that have faced this battle of purity head on and have received a level of victory that they would like to share. My point in this is not necessarily to hold these people up as battle heroes and give them glory. Most of this is going to be anonymous. But the point is, and I know that it would be their burden as well, is to point out specific principles that have been helpful to them and that may resonate with you. I can share with you examples of principles from scripture that have been helpful to me, but I could miss things as well. And so it’s really helpful to hear other stories and they may resonate with you more than anything I have said does, and I would love for that to happen.
So first off, we have a testimony from a young man. This gentleman sent this testimony over to me probably over a month ago, but we’re just thrilled for an opportunity now to be able to share it with you all. I’m gonna read through the majority of it. I’ll summarize some things, but as I read through this, see if there’s certain principles that jump out to you or aspects of his journey that you can resonate with and see if the Lord will speak to you through this. And I trust it’ll be an encouragement. We’ll call him Sam.
Sam says, “I do not come from a very holy background. I was first exposed to pornography when I was in second grade, and it became a constant temptation and pitfall for the next 14 years of my life. I never attempted to live for God in my teen years. During those years, I found myself indulging in pornography and even went so far as to find myself in types of relationships that Christian young men ought never to be in, though thankfully it did not go as far as it could have.
“I surrendered my life to the Lord in December 2015, right before I turned 21, though I was saved around the age of 5. I wish I could say that I walked in victory from that point forward, but such was not the case. Due to my background, I had temptations to meditate both on images of people and memories of people. I say none of this to glory in my shame, but those memories definitely provided the greatest temptation. I didn’t just battle with the physical side of defeat, but also the physical amplified by emotional. For years I struggled with self-gratification, and after the first year after my surrender life, I fell into viewing issues again before getting right about it in the spring of 2017. Though that particular sin was behind me now, my mind and actions were still far from pure. As I learned about the spirit-filled life, I learned how to receive victory when I wanted it. Though unfortunately, it seemed I found myself wanting defeat more than victory. I knew that I could get my pleasure, wallow in my shame for a period of time and come back to Jesus after I got sick of my sin.” Sam says, “Many times people who struggle most deeply with these types of issues come from difficult family situations, distant dads, distracted moms, tensions, and fighting in the home. A lack of love and closeness on a superficial level, sexual sin, solves those painful wounds. Though it deceitfully gouges them deeper.”
He says, “As time went on, I found myself thinking of the kind of family I would want to have, the kind of home I would want my children to grow up in. Would I want them to have a home filled with envy, strife, sexual sin, division, and drunkenness like I had? Or would I want them to have a home filled with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and unity? It was during this time that I came across the Satisfied Podcast for the first time. After I listened to it, I opened my Bible to the book of Galatians. I read some words that I’m sure are familiar to us. It says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, adultery, etc.” And Sam thought, “Wow, that sounds like my home growing up.” Then I read the next few verses. He says, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such, there is no law.” But then Sam continued and read this, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
“The Holy Spirit took those words and shot them like an arrow through my heart,” Sam says. “I suddenly realized that my sin was costing me. The very home I craved so deeply for my future family was being driven away by my sexual sin. Think of the home you want your kids to grow up in. Is the cost worth it?”
Sam concludes by saying, “I testify to you that Jesus offers a complete and free victory by His own resurrection life flowing through you. He conquered all sin and its power when He rose from the grave, and that same Christ lives in you and is willing and ready to live through you. If you only choose to let Him.”
I appreciate that testimony from Sam. I reached out to him yesterday and asked if there was one point, if there was one point that he wanted to get across, what would that be? And he said it was simply “to count the cost.”
We’re encouraged in scripture to count the cost of following Jesus, but have you counted the cost of following your flesh? Ingrained in probably every one of us is an incredible and very natural desire, a divine desire for a family. And there’s probably nothing that will tear a family apart faster than sexual sin. In fact, in many cases, it will even prevent such a family from happening. Such was the case in my testimony, as you know, which nearly cost me my marriage before it began, and I’m sure that has happened for many. But Sam says what drove him to a point of desperation was when he saw the trajectory of where he was headed, and where he inevitably was going to take his future family. He had experienced what sin can do to a family and he didn’t want to pass on the same thing to his own.
When he said that, it reminded me of Solomon’s words in Proverbs chapter 5, I think it’s verse 17 where Solomon says, ‘I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.’ I shudder when I think of what Solomon was referring to when he said that. Many commentators say when he said in the midst of the congregation and assembly, he’s referring to, he was almost involved in something that would have had a death penalty, according to the law of Moses at the time. He’s saying, ‘I was that close. I was that close because of sexual sin. Are we counting the cost?’
Now to be clear on one thing, I think we can be confused by the difference between determination and desperation. And the reason I bring that up in a conversation and test after a testimony like this is because I have no doubt there are passions rising in each one of us saying, ‘You know, he’s absolutely right. I don’t want to take my family that way. I’m going to stop doing this right now. This is the last time I’m going to do this. Everything’s different now. I am determined.’ And I remember as a teenager confessing to my dad after a time of acting out in pornography and I told him, ‘Dad, this is it, this is never gonna happen again.’ And he said, ‘Really, why is it any different?’ And it kind of took me by surprise, kind of like, ‘Well, why does it matter why? I’m just not gonna do it anymore.’ But he knew me well enough to know that if I didn’t take measurable actions to see some change, I was gonna be right back in the same scenario. It was determination. I told him at that point, I said, ‘Dad, I’m determined this time, I’m determined.'” But that determination was not enough.
The point that Sam brings up in his testimony, the importance of recognizing the cost of what this is doing to your future family is not just so you can be stirred and get determined to do better. No. It’s so that instead you’ll get desperate. That you realize the incredible gravity of the trajectory of your life, the trajectory of your decisions, of where what you do today is leading for your future. It is a scary, scary thought, and a thought that should lead you to your knees in absolute desperation before Jesus. You see, determination is not the answer. Desperation is not even the answer, but it leads you to the answer, who is Jesus Christ.
I think this is a theme that we’ll see throughout this series and the different testimonies point many times at which God had to bring someone to rock bottom just to instill desperation in them, to have them turn back to Jesus for help.
So at this moment, if the Lord is convicting you of sin in your life that you know is going to affect your family in the future, and you want so badly to do something about that right now, then would you get on your knees before the Lord and get desperate? Spend some time with him. Say, ‘Jesus, I want change, but I can’t do it. No amount of my determination is what’s gonna do it. I need you. Will you show me the next step and take me there? Will you jump in this journey and walk me to where I need to be?’ And by yielding to him and the Holy Spirit’s leading now and day by day and week by week, you are sowing to the Spirit and ensuring that you will reap the fruit of the Spirit in your own life and in your family.”
Boy, I appreciate that testimony from Sam. And let me just say that I would love to hear more testimonies from those in our audience. You may not feel adequate to share such a testimony because you say “Well I haven’t arrived yet. I’m not perfect yet. Maybe someday, but I’m not there yet.” Look, if there is something that has been helpful to you. If there is a measure of victory that God has given, you’re seeing God do things in your life, we want to hear about it. And it may or may not be something that I read on the podcast. I don’t know. I’ll reach out to you first to see if you’re willing for this to be shared, if it’s something I think would be helpful. But either way, I think you do need to share what God’s doing in your heart. And we certainly want to be there and available to listen and hear and maybe give thoughts and suggestions. Please share your story with us. We would absolutely love to hear that. As you know, as Sam’s has been a blessing to us today, yours could be to someone else.
So if that’s you and you have something you’d like to share with us, shoot me an email at satisfied@theegeneration.org, and we’d be thrilled to get that from you.
Well, that’s all for today’s episode. I appreciate you joining us today as we looked at it in testimony how to be less gratified and more satisfied with Jesus Christ.
