Ephesians 5:1–7

Joseph and David were both men of God. Both faced sexual temptation. But their responses could hardly have been more different.

Joseph was a servant in another man’s house. When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, he refused. “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). Joseph would not take what belonged to another man, even when refusal cost him his freedom.

David was a king with nearly everything a man could desire. Yet when he saw another man’s wife, he took her. And when his sin threatened to become public, he arranged for her husband’s death. Joseph lost his freedom rather than surrender to sin. David abused his freedom to satisfy his desires and conceal his sin.

What a contrast! Joseph refused what he could have taken. David took what he should have refused.

Paul writes, “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us” (Ephesians 5:2). Then he warns against sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness. The connection is unmistakable. Love gives; lust takes. Love seeks another’s good; lust sacrifices another’s good to satisfy itself.

As God’s beloved children, we are called to resemble our Father, not the world around us. We are not simply commanded to resist temptation. We are called to walk in the self-giving love of Christ.

The question is not merely what we desire, but what we are willing to sacrifice to obtain it. Will we sacrifice our integrity, or will we sacrifice our desires?

Walk in love. Refuse what love would never take.