A few weeks ago, I posted this on my Facebook page:
In recent years, many cases of immoral relationships of Christian leaders, including those I have spoken with at various events, have happened with men in their seventies. Since I am 72, I take that very seriously. It should make all of us carefully examine our lives and take heed to Paul’s warning, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). And Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” God help us all to guard our hearts and minds and be on alert because the devil desires to destroy us.
Chris Fabry read that post and asked if I would come on his radio program to talk about the struggles of older people when it comes to sexual purity. I always enjoy talking with Chris, who is a great radio host, as well as an author and an audiobook reader (he narrated the audio for my Heaven book, and did an excellent job!).
Our conversation was unique, different than other purity-related discussions I’ve done in the past.
I’ve been thinking about how we can’t coast along in the Christian life just because we experienced victory in our younger decades. We must stay on guard, since Scripture’s command doesn’t come with an expiration date: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Satan’s desire to destroy us doesn’t expire as we age, either: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
God gives each of us a race to run. The Christian life is not a hundred-meter dash but a marathon, requiring patience, endurance, and discipline in order to finish well. We dare not let down our guard in our final decades, assuming we are already home safe!
Instead, we are to follow Christ from start to finish, repenting quickly of our sins and moving forward in deeper devotion. Yes, there will be dry times, but overall, the arc of spiritual growth should steadily rise higher, not trail off so our lives end in a wasted whimper. Paul prayed that Christians might be “strengthened with all power according to [God’s] glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father” (Colossians 1:11–12).
But sadly, among Christians, failure to endure—in marriage, jobs, church, personal integrity, or any part of life—has become normal. A consistent long-term obedience, without periodic diversions into sin and unfruitfulness, seems to many an impossible dream, rather than a normal experience of the Christian life. Sin has become so common, so expected.
It doesn’t have to be that way, but we need to think in terms of what little choices and compromises we are making that are moving us further away from purity and faithfulness to Christ, even in our final decades. (See my article The Cumulative Effect of Our Little Choices.) We can’t just magically snap our fingers and expect that we’re not going to face sexual temptation because we’re older.
Steve Bateman writes in his article about finishing well, “Failure isn’t inevitable. By God’s grace, you can use common-sense safeguards to help you finish well as you constantly revisit Paul’s exhortation to ‘be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain’ (1 Corinthians 15:58).”
May God help us all to guard our hearts and minds and be on alert. (I encourage you to read my booklet written for Christian leaders, full time and lay leaders both: Sexual Temptation: Establishing Guardrails and Winning the Battle, also available as a free download.)
The words “finish well” mean more to me than they ever have, and I am more determined than ever to complete my race to the glory of God. Especially because I know that after the finish line, what awaits us is eternal goodness, glory, beauty, a restored earth, and a depth of relationship with God and each other beyond what we can imagine.
So I am daily seeking God‘s face, living in His grace, and drawing near to Him. I’m also guarding my life against anything that would ruin or in any way diminish my heritage to my children and grandchildren and the people whose lives, by God‘s grace, I have been able to touch. “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (Psalm 71:18).
My friends and I often encourage each other to finish well, especially as we get closer to that finish line, which each of us do every day. Christ calls to follow Him, to finish this earthly life strong for God’s glory. There is no higher calling, no bigger privilege, no greater joy!
