STAGES BEFORE A FALL – EYE STAGE

There was a time when we had quite a few ladies in our home. I had to call Irewamiri at a point to kindly save me from ‘accidental visual assault’. I cannot be stumbling into and seeing things I am not meant to see. It took sincerity to have that conversation. It is better to be vulnerable and stand than to be “forming strong” while struggling hard. 

If you can overcome the first stage, you will most likely stay safe. It is the stage of the eyes. Most sexual temptations begin with the lust of the eyes. If you can keep your eyes from it, then you can keep your feet from falling. 

The rules are simple: 

First, make sure you do not see it. Do all you can to keep your environment from anything that will trigger lust. If it means not watching movies and going off social media, please do it. There is no price that is too much to pay to keep yourself from falling. If you know what brought a generation down, deal with it today. If the lust of the eyes triggered adultery in your lineage, know the battles you are fighting. 

Second, if you see it, make sure you do not look. Seeing is not deliberate. Looking is deliberate. It means you are now an active participant. Do not be like those older men back in the days who would say, “See the nonsense that small girl is wearing” while feeding their eyes with it. Do not try to watch suggestive videos because you want to analyze how a boy or a girl could become so delinquent. You are not a porn analyst. You are a child of God. 

Think about Job who said these words: 

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman”

Job 31:1 NLT

What does the word “look” really mean? 

It means to gaze lustfully. 

“I have made a covenant (agreement) with my eyes; How then could I gaze [lustfully] at a virgin? Job 31:1 AMP

It means you are beginning to undress with your eyes. It is the real see finish. 

“I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes” Job 31:1 MSG

You are now actively engaged in looking, gazing, and undressing the opposite sex with your eyes. That is the first trap. 

If you can keep your eyes from evil, you can keep your feet from straying. 

Judah’s fall began with the eyes. 

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

Genesis 38:15 NIV

David’s fall began with the eyes.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,

2 Samuel 11:2 NIV

Samson’s challenge began with his eyes: 

One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye.

Judges 14:1 NLT

If you do not deal decisively with the first seeing, you will get into trouble soon. It worsens. 

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute…

Judges 16:1 NIV

Unfortunately, do you know the first thing the Philistines removed from Samson after his capture? You guessed right! His eyes. 

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.

Judges 16:21 NIV

If the devil gains control of your eyes, he will get you bound. Did you see the shackles they used? Bronze shackles. No matter how expensive a chain is, bondage is bondage. 

You need to discipline yourself before the enemy puts you in expensive chains: 

If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, throw it out [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

Mark 9:47 AMP

Will you deal with that lustful desire? Find out your vulnerable moment and deal with it. 

© temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa