Teaching Tuesday: Walking in Wisdom - Proverbs - Wisdom for Sexual Integrity

Series: Walking in Wisdom
Sermon: Wisdom for Words - Proverbs 5:1-23 (11.2.25)
Watch the messages HERE. 

While our world treats sexual desires (and all desires) as something to indulge without restraint as an essential component for a good life, the book of Proverbs offers a radically different path - one marked by wisdom, honor, and integrity. Sexual integrity isn’t simply about restraint, it’s about aligning our desires with God’s design. Proverbs - and many other related passages in scripture - reminds us that what we do with our bodies is as important for our walk with the Lord as any other aspect of discipleship.    

In Proverbs 5, a father pleads with his son: “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword” (vs. 3–4). The imagery is powerful—temptation often begins sweet but ends with pain. The wisdom writer isn’t just warning against adultery; he’s showing us how sin distorts pleasure, turning what was meant for life and intimacy into regret and brokenness.

Sexual integrity, then, begins not in behavior but in the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Integrity grows when we guard our inner life—our thoughts, our imaginations, our private choices. This isn’t prudishness; it’s protection. It’s the wise recognition that purity is not about deprivation, but about preserving joy, peace, and trust.

Proverbs also paints a picture of what integrity produces. “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth” (v. 5:18). God’s wisdom doesn’t repress desire; it redeems it. The same passion that destroys relationships and lives when misused becomes deeply fulfilling when rooted in covenant love. Sex is a beautiful and good thing, when it’s experienced the way its creator created it to be experienced.
 
To live with sexual integrity today requires more than willpower—it requires worship. We don’t fight temptation just by saying “no” to sin, but by saying “yes” to something greater. When Christ is our ultimate love, lesser loves lose their grip. The Holy Spirit gives us strength to live wisely in a culture that celebrates short-term gratification over eternal satisfaction.

Pray:
God, grant me wisdom. Help me see temptation for what it really is - a cheap counterfeit of something holy. Renew my heart with a greater affection for what is pure, faithful, and true. May your Spirit lead me away from sin and closer to Christ. Amen.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” — Proverbs 2:6

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN! 

- Pastor Brady