In this week’s sermon, we will be unveiling the wisdom of the Cross.
This episode: We look at fasting—why it will help you battle porn, doing it with a right heart, and how to incorporate it into your life.
In the latest sermon, our speakers unpack several biblical texts to unveil Yahweh as Redeemer.
This episode: In this podcast we'll give a biblical answer to the question: "What role does accountability play in overcoming sexual sin?"
This episode: Sexual sin destroys intimacy, but God's Word shows couples how to restore trust and purity to their marriage bed.
Sexual intimacy can be really complicated, especially for those who are dealing with the aftermath of sexual sin. In today’s episode, Jeff and Rose Colón talk about the biblical principles that will transform the marriage bed from a place of awkwardness, fear, and lust into a place of deep intimacy, trust and purity.
This interview: Children are deeply impacted by their parents' behavior. So, is a parent responsible if their child develops an addiction?
Some say that if you want to discover the roots of addictive behavior, you have to look at a person’s childhood, because the data shows that if a child’s father doesn’t give them the love they need, they can have real problems later in life. But does that mean that a father's failure to love causes a person to become an addict? In today’s interview, we'll discuss what the Bible teaches about why we do what we do, and how to deal with our own bad choices.
This episode: Children are deeply impacted by their parents' behavior. So, is a parent responsible if their child develops an addiction?
Some say that if you want to discover the roots of addictive behavior, you have to look at a person’s childhood, because the data shows that if a child’s father doesn’t give them the love they need, they can have real problems later in life. But does that mean that a father's failure to love causes a person to become an addict? In today’s show, we'll discuss what the Bible teaches about why we do what we do, and how to deal with our own bad choices.
Hey Podcast fans! Have you heard our "Freedom from Porn" series? For this week's podcast, we'll take you back to that series' second show.
In the second episode of our Freedom from Porn series, we asked the question, "What Role Does Brokenness Play in Freedom from Porn?" We looked at brokenness from a biblical perspective, how God uses it, and heard testimonies of how godly brokenness leads to freedom and life.
PLM Podcast fans, have you heard our series "The Church Addicted"? For this week's podcast, we'll take you back to that series' first show.
The statistics concerning men addicted to pornography and other illicit sexual sins are staggering. 64% viewing porn at least monthly. 36% of young men watching it at least daily. 35% of men admitting that they are having an affair. The worst part? These statistics are not from unbelievers—but from people professing to be followers of Jesus. This is the first episode in The Church Addicted—a series of shows where we look at how these statistics became the Church's reality.
This episode: From nearly insane to one of the greatest missionaries of the 1900's—we'll review Brother Andrew's thrilling autobiography.
As a young boy, Andrew van der Bijl longed for adventure, satisfaction, and purpose. That longing would take him places that drove him nearly to madness. But God used Andrew's suffering and disappointment to make him willing to surrender everything to God. And that's when God opened the door for an adventure that Andrew never could have imagined. In this episode, we'll talk about "Why You Should Read God's Smuggler".
This episode: From nearly insane to one of the greatest missionaries of the 1900's—we'll review Brother Andrew's thrilling autobiography.
As a young boy, Andrew van der Bijl longed for adventure, satisfaction, and purpose. That longing would take him places that drove him nearly to madness. But God used Andrew's suffering and disappointment to make him willing to surrender everything to God. And that's when God opened the door for an adventure that Andrew never could have imagined. In this episode, we'll talk about "Why You Should Read God's Smuggler".
This episode: Steve Gallagher and the leadership of Pure Life Ministries will answer your questions in our Men's Sexual Sin Q&A Part 2.
Have you ever wondered what to do after a fall back into sexual sin? Have you asked yourself, "How can I fight against the ever-increasing darkness of this world?" We'll answer these questions, and more, in our Men's Sexual Sin Q&A Part 2.
This interview: When we put our trust in God and allow Him to do a work in us through our trials, we become a vessel of blessing for others.
This series is meant to offer wives a solid, weighty hope. It's a hope that can say, “No matter what I’m facing, God is good. And no matter what it seems like now, I will go through this in faith so that I can become more like Jesus.” This is true hope, because we believe that everything we go through can be used by God to bring forth lasting, indestructible fruit. This is the final episode in our "Hope for Hurting Wives" series with Kathy Gallagher. Thanks for watching!
This episode: When we put our trust in God and allow Him to do a work in us through our trials, we become a vessel of blessing for others.
For the past 8 weeks we’ve been offering wives a solid, weighty hope. It's a hope that can say “No matter what I’m facing, God is good. And no matter what it seems like now, I will go through this in faith so that I can become more like Jesus.” This is true hope, because we believe that everything we go through can be used by God to bring forth lasting, indestructible fruit. This is the final episode in our Hope for Hurting Wives series with Kathy Gallagher. Thanks for listening!
We are guilty of idolatry if we allow anything—even a good thing, like our spouse—to have the most important place in our hearts and lives.
When we allow something to become more important to us than the Lord, it has become an idol. In this "Timeless Truths" segment from our archives, Jeff & Rose Colón talk to couples about making sure that the Lord is first in their hearts and lives.
Host: Jeff and Rose Colón have joined us in the studio. It's good to see you again.
Jeff & Rose: Good to see you.
Host: Thank you for coming in and talking with us. We want to talk today about spousal idolatry. We use the term idolatry a lot in our everyday topics here at Pure Life. Could you kind of give our listeners an idea of what idolatry truly is?
Jeff: Well, I've heard it said like this: An idol is something that we consistently make equal to or more important than God in our attention and desire. Maybe we just talk about it all the time. Or we're very devoted to it. Or we make choices that revolve around it. It's just something in our lives that has become more important to us than God.
Host: So, it could be anything. It doesn't necessarily have to be something bad.
Jeff: No. Absolutely.
Host: So, how does someone know if he or she has made their spouse an idol in their heart?
Jeff: Well, there's some telltale signs that people can see if they look inside themselves. They can ask themselves, “What is it that I really adore? What is it that I really put my hope in? What is it that I really look forward to? What is it that I really make sacrifices for in my life? What is the most prevalent topic that I tend to talk about? What do I look for my peace in? Where do I look for my meaning and my happiness? Am I looking to my spouse to make me happy? There are a lot of telltale signs that will show us if something is really an idol in our hearts.
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Host: Rose, when you're looking at the wife in a marriage, what are some of the ways as a counselor that you might see how a wife has made an idol of her husband?
Rose: One of the ways that I've seen this manifest is when a wife is being consumed with her husband as far as what he's doing and what he's not doing. She is looking to see if he's spending time with the Lord or if he's not spending time with the Lord. She constantly wants to know if he's pressing into God the way he's supposed to be pressing into Him. Ultimately the focus for this wife is just the husband. She's made the husband out bigger than God is and because of that God is very small in her world. She's just consumed with her husband.
An example I can give from my own life is when my husband was in his sin. I was consumed with how he was doing and what he was doing. I was consumed all day wondering if he was going to be acting out and because of that I wasn't focused on my own walk with the Lord or even my own responsibilities. So, what I've seen in my personal life and in counseling women is that when the husband becomes an all-consuming object, then it starts affecting a wife’s relationship with the Lord. But then too it affects how she acts and responds toward her husband.
Host: So, you're not saying that a wife shouldn't care about her husband and that she should never think about her husband. It's really a matter of balance.
Rose: Right. It is a matter of balance because it's okay to wonder how my husband is doing. But to be wondering how he is doing 24/7 to the point where you’re anxious and worried inside your heart, that's where you are crossing a line because you’re not trusting the Lord with your husband.
Host: Jeff, when a husband or a wife has made an idol of their spouse, how do they begin to deal with that? If they've recognized it, then what are the steps they need to take to deal with it?
Jeff: Well, first of all, they need to understand that from the Word of God,we're told that God will have no other gods before Him. He's a jealous God. He longs for the attention that we give to other things, because He desires to have a relationship with us and He wants us all to Himself. That should be our desire as well because He is what we ultimately need. He created us to have fellowship with Him and to be satisfied by Him and He knows that when we look to other things then we're not going to be fulfilled. He ultimately just wants to bless us and give us what we ultimately need.
So, He encourages us in His Word to turn away from worthless things, to turn away from things that won't satisfy and to seek Him diligently and to make Him the all engrossing object of our lives. He doesn’t have a vain desire for us to fall at His feet, selfishly needing that worship. It’s because we were created by Him and for Him. We were created to have fellowship with Him and He wants that fellowship with us. So, it displeases Him when we look to other things. So, a husband or wife needs to understand that when they are idolizing their spouse, they are giving an amount of attention to someone else that only God should be receiving from them. And if the Lord is not first in their lives, then they're not going to be able to fulfill His purpose and plan for their lives.
Host: Well, is it too strong of a statement to say that if this is the reality that a person is living in then they're in sin and they need to repent?
Jeff: Absolutely. Because sin is missing the mark. And if God is not who we are focusing on then we're missing the mark. One of the main aspects of sin is going around God to get what we want. So, God must be at the center of the marriage. And if both spouses don't have Him as their first source or their first object of desire, they are going to be off track and they are not going to be in the will of God.
Rose: Also, in 1 John, John tells us to keep ourselves from idols. And when you read that command in light of marriage you will see that there's something that you need to do to make sure that you are not allowing your spouse to become an idol in your heart. We need to always be checking our hearts to make sure that God is bigger than our spouse. He's able to keep our spouses. He's able to watch over our spouses. I don't have to be worrying 24/7 about what my husband is doing because our God is bigger than that. When we start worrying and fretting that just reveals that something is not right in our heart and it's usually the tendency of making our spouse an idol.
Host: What are some of the practical things that either a couple can do together or the spouse can do in their own walk to overcome spousal idolatry?
Jeff: Well, I know for myself that if I have something in my life that is taking my attention away from where it needs to be, I need to start making choices to get my focus where it needs to be. The Bible commands us to set our minds on the things above and not the things of the earth. And we just need to rein in our thoughts and our feelings, and we need to start going to the throne of grace which is where we'll get what we need. We need to start getting in the Word of God. We need to start seeking God more on a daily basis.
The more time we start spending with God and the more time we start choosing to make Him the first thing that we're pursuing, He's going to automatically balance things out and then we're going to start seeing things right. And we're going to start to see our spouse in the right perspective. What spouses don't realize is that when God is first and when you're in a right relationship with Him, you're going to be able to fulfill your role as a husband or a wife the way God designed you to because things are going to be in their proper order.
Host: Rose, how often have you seen in counseling where the spouse who has been in idolatry begins to let go of their idolatry and then a lot of issues and problems that were coming up in the marriage kind of begin to take care of themselves.
Rose: Yeah. Those problems do begin to fall by the wayside because the focus is off the other spouse and they're focusing more on the Lord and what the Lord wants to be to them and that they were created for Him first and for His purposes. So, the focus really gets off of self or their spouse and it starts to get more on the Lord. And as that happens, you become freer, and you have more peace inside and you're able to be a blessing. Instead of looking to get something from the other person, you're just looking to give and be a blessing to them.
Hurting wives desperately need the Word of God because it has the power to go inside of them and make them completely new.
In the midst of trials, we need a place to turn to for comfort, help and answers. And when we turn to the Word of God, we find a source of eternal truth. But more than that, we find something that can go inside of us and make us into new creations. In Episode 8 of the "Hope for Hurting Wives" series, Kathy Gallagher talks about the incredible power of the Word of God, and why hurting wives should cherish it as their very life.
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