RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

Interview with Jerry B. Jenkins
Sammy Tippit: As a dad with three grown sons (two of them now married), you and your wife, Dianna, certainly have set boundaries and hedges by the examples in your life. But to what degree was there instruction and you just saying, “Hey, guys, here’s something to look at, think about, consider”?

Jerry Jenkins: Yeah, it’s more than just trying to do that by example, because you can be surprised later when the kids say, “Well, I saw that, but I didn’t quite know what it was all about or whether it applied to me or, because you’re old fogies, that’s something you guys need, but we’re young people. We did talk about it, and I would tell the boys why I had these hedges.
One of the things that was encouraging to me is that as teenagers, I didn’t try to project this image that, “I am now an adult, and I’m a spiritual guy. I’m a visible guy, and I’m a Christian author. I’m out and around. So I’m above this. I have found victory, and lust is beneath me.” You know? That would have been a really hard act to follow for typical teenage boys. I remember my teenage years. I remember my later years.  I would say to them, “I know what you’re thinking about. I know what you’re going through and what the struggles are. So let’s not pretend we’re all going to just decide, ‘We’re never ever going to look at a woman again, never have a lustful thought.’ Let’s look at the Scripture which says not to stand and fight and to win over this…”
This is the most freeing thing I ever found. We all as men want to win. If it’s over greed or malice or lying or something, you turn over a new leaf. You read your Bible more. You resolve to be more committed. If you keep it up long enough, the Lord will help you win. Scripture says to flee lust. That says to me you’re not ever expected to win. You know, you can feel bad about yourself because you’ve tried and tried and tried and tried and tried, and you keep losing. Run!
I could see it in my kids’ eyes when I talked about that. You know, if you have lustful thoughts and typical things that teenage boys have, run, because you’re not going to beat this. You’re not going to win. We would talk about it fairly openly. Especially the two boys who are married are just so wholly committed to family and to marriage, and I’m sure the same will be true with our youngest.