Women: Running the race well—Part 1

The life of faith is like running a race, and for women who want to live lives of relational and sexual integrity, we need to take this seriously. Hebrews 12 has some rich encouragements for us, and I’d like to consider four of these over the next series of blogs.

So first, if we’re going to run the race well, we need to be willing to throw off distractions and hindrances. Let me just quote for you Hebrews 12:1-2, where it says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

So as I mentioned, first, we need to be willing to throw off distractions, throw off hindrances, and the sin which so easily entangles us. Another verse I’d like for you to consider as an anchor truth for you in this regard is Romans 13:14, where Paul says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

So for women who want to live in pathways of overcoming relational temptations and sexual sin, what might that look like? Well, I think about some of the women I’ve known who’ve struggled with internet pornography. For them, making no provision for their temptation meant that they needed to have serious boundaries about when they would get online, and how. One woman made a commitment to her apartment mates that she would not get online unless she was in the living room of the apartment and someone else was home.

Another woman I knew, who had gotten involved in a sexual relationship with a woman friend, had to make some hard commitments about not being in social situations with that person, and also being willing to even distance herself from situations where she could be tempted to even be thinking about that person.

What about you? What might it look like for you to put on the Lord Jesus, growing in your love relationship with him and his Word, and to make no provision for your temptations that perhaps lead you towards a pathway of sexual sin? The race of faith is worth it, and Jesus will help you to take one step at a time in overcoming these struggles.