OW2P Study - Temptation (Part 8)

Goal
To help students see the cause-effect relationship between alcohol use and sexual promiscuity; and to give students tools to say “no” to alcohol and premarital sex.

Key Scriptures
Genesis 9:20-25; Genesis 19:30-36; Romans 13:12-14

Warm Up
Recruit six members to compete in a “drunk bat” relay. Divide into two teams of three. Begin the race by having one team member place his/her forehead on an upright bat, spinning around 10 times and then running with the bat a designated distance to a teammate who does the same. The process repeats until all three members have gone. This game shows how easy it is to lose control.

Watch
Show the Week 8 video — “Temptation”

Workout
One of the great tactics in coaching is to find a way to get the opposing team to let down its defenses, if only for a moment. In football, the offensive coach might run several running plays in a row, all the time setting up those defensive backs to get burned on a play-action pass.

A basketball coach may start the game with his players in a zone defense and then quickly switch to a man-to-man, full-court pressure defense to create quick turnovers. In baseball, it might be the hit-and-run that penetrates the defense. All of these strategies are designed to lull the other team to sleep in order to gain an edge by causing the opposing team to lose its alertness and readiness.

Satan seeks an advantage in our lives in much the same way — by getting us to relax our standards of righteousness, by lulling us to sleep and getting us to drop our defenses against him. One way he does this is through trying to tempt us to use alcohol. For most people, alcohol causes the loss of the natural inhibition that protects them from doing dangerous things.

Nobody could argue the point that when people are under the influence of alcohol, they take more risks and do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.

Those things may even seem fairly insignificant, like being more socially at ease or driving a little faster than you normally would. But the point is that alcohol causes a breach in your natural defenses. This is why in the majority of date rape cases, alcohol has been used by one or both parties. The majority of the teens who have lost their virginity say that at least one of the partners was drinking.

The first two times alcohol is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 9:20-25 and 19:30-36. In both cases, sexual immorality and perversion are a direct result of its use. God is trying to tell us something: saying “no” to sexual immorality is hard enough without fanning the flame with alcohol.

God promised to protect us and provide for us, to show us His heart and mind regarding our lives and decisions. Take a closer look at His promises for the non-drinker:

1. Discipline — The fruit of self-control grows in you as you stay sober and spiritually alert (1 Corinthians 6:12).
2. Sexual purity — Staying alcohol-free gives you a head start towards an intimate and lifelong marital relationship (Proverbs 23:31-33).
3. Wise decisions — Sobriety helps you to gain a competitive edge through sound judgment and good decision-making (1 Thessalonians 5:4-9).
4. A growing satisfaction about your life as it pleases God (Romans 14:17).

Workout Questions

1. Have you ever seen someone getting drunk on alcohol for the first time?
2. How did that person act differently from the way he or she normally acts?
3. What should you do if your date is drinking heavily?
4. What is the connection between sexual immorality and alcohol?
5. Read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. In the Bible, we are encouraged to stand strong when faced with sin (Ephesians 6:10-14), but here Paul encourages us to run from sexual immorality. Why?

Wrap Up
Ask yourself this question: “Are my social life and dating relationships pleasing to God?” Be painfully honest. You are violating God’s principles if you are an underage drinker, abuse drugs (Romans 13:1), are using any form of tobacco product (1 Corinthians 3:17), or are engaging in premarital sex. Agree with God that this is sin. Ask for His forgiveness and ask Him to give you the strength to quit (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Close with the following prayer exercise:
Have everyone get on their knees and close in quiet prayer time before the Lord. While they are on their knees, ask them to make a commitment to be sexually pure and to run from sexual sin. After several minutes of personal prayer, open it up for group prayer. When the spirit leads, you can close in prayer.