Mike Focht 2/20/2026
Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
Proverbs 6:25-29
Here we find some direct reproof in relation to sexual temptation. Solomon is giving instructional reproofs to keep us on the way of life. These warnings are important because no matter how much we control the sources of sexual temptation that are in our own power to control, we will always meet with scenarios, things, or people that are not in our power to control. The three main thoughts given to us in this section of Scripture will help us in situations where the temptation comes from places beyond our control. Certainly, Solomon’s direct warning has men in view, but the spiritual principles are valid for both men and women facing sexual temptation.
First, the desire to look, lust, and be allured by beauty is reproved. Too many are foolish enough to think that they can look at, talk about, and think about alluring beauty without being affected. The Pharasaic-type line of “looking without touching” is not innocent. We too become white-washed tombs. Innocent on the outside but full of rotting bones on the inside. Solomon rebukes the longing look at alluring beauty. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart.
Can we be ruthlessly sincere with what is happening in our hearts? Are we willing to ask ourselves questions such as: What am I hoping to see in this movie or show? Why am I looking at the person in the car next to me? Why am I paying more attention to this person at work? Do I treat people I find alluring differently from those I do not? Why am I searching for this person on the internet? We must not allow ourselves to be ignorantly enchanted by unsanctified allurements.
Second, I must acknowledge my own weakness. Giving in to the lusts in my heart can lead me to the place where I am totally enslaved to the gratification of my own desires. I may come to the place where everything in my life is surrendered to the power of sexual sin. To the point where I am left with nothing more than a crust of bread. The self-deceived notion that we are in control of how far a gratified desire will take us needs to be reproved. It is like starting a forest fire and thinking you can contain it all by yourself. The man who sins becomes a slave to sin. That is the truth from The Truth Himself.
Finally, we must acknowledge that sexual sin demands a price. No one can give in to sexual sin without some measure of harm, just like human skin cannot embrace fire without some harm. If good movies, books, music, friendships, and conversation can build you up—which I think just about everyone would agree with—then, obviously, bad movies, books, music, friendships, and conversation will break you down. The man who thinks that he can willingly step into any sin and move away from it totally innocent and unaffected needs to be reproved. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
There is no sin so small that it will not leave its mark on us. Allow the wisdom of God to be a healthy reproof to the desires of our hearts, the thoughts of our minds, and the actions of our lives. As Solomon says in the same chapter, reproofs of instruction are the way of life.