God teaches us even through difficult consequences—discover the attitudes to embrace during His discipline.
Sexual sin isn’t the only sin which you must be on guard against—Patrick shares about three more.
Episode 4 in our series challenges us to take an inventory of the lives we live. Are we REALLY devoted to the Lord or do we just SAY we are?
If you want your soul to be cleansed from sexual sin, you must join God in His cleansing process.
God teaches us even through difficult consequences—discover the attitudes to embrace during His discipline.
Timeless Truths: Walking through the aftermath of our sin can easily lead us into self-pity. It can also lead us to ignore lessons God is trying to teach us. But if we walk through consequences by putting our trust in the Lord and seeking to learn the lessons He has for us, we will find a tremendous amount of good can come out of them.
In this interview from the archives, Austin Kropf joins us to share some of the attitudes we should have if we are to let the Lord have His way and accomplish His will in our lives while going through the effects of sin.
Host: So, Austin, as we continue in this episode in our series, “Key Lessons on the Road to Freedom,” I was hoping that you could help us see what kinds of attitudes that we should have in our lives when it comes to the consequences of our sin. That might be an attitude that we should have directly toward the Lord or toward other people in our lives or toward the actual logistical consequences of our sin.
The reality is that just because you repent doesn't mean that the consequences just automatically go away and everything's great. So, when you've had to counsel men, or even in your own life, what have you seen are some of the most important attitudes that we should have?
Austin: The first one that comes to mind is humility. For someone who's really sinned against others and against themselves there are going to be consequences and they can come in many forms. But to go and face those is going to require a lot of humility. And once someone has repented of their sin, it's easy to kind of move on past that in their minds as far as what the consequences of past sin entails.
You may just want to live a new life. You don't want to be associated with anything that pertains to your “old life” and so it's easy to just move on quickly and forget that you actually made a big mess of things. And so, for someone to be able to actually face those things it’s going to require them to have a humble attitude.
Host: Yeah. I'm not married and I'm not a counselor, but I've heard enough of the stories about how even after a man has repented to his wife, she still bears the scars and there's a lot of collateral damage there. She's afraid of what might happen in the future. She struggles when they're out in public with wondering if he is looking at other women. She wonders, “What's he thinking about during sex? Is he thinking about people that he saw on the Internet?”
So, his sin has created some real lasting consequences, because there are still problems in the marriage. There's still the residue of a lot of his own decisions. And for you as a counselor, I know you have to really exhort the husband like, “Okay, you've repented and that is good, but now you need to bear with your wife.”
Austin: Yeah. Some of those things can feel like a nagging thing of, “Why can't my wife just move on? I've repented. This isn't an issue anymore. Why can't we just move on?” But that's a great opportunity for him to really focus on what the Lord has done rather than what he wants his life to look like right now. So that kind of leads into what I was going to say next and that is that another very important aspect of walking through consequences is gratitude.
If we were just taking that example from a marriage that's been shattered by sexual sin, if the husband cultivates gratitude for what the Lord has done, his consequences won't seem as overwhelming as before. He could thank the Lord for delivering him out of this perpetual cycle of devastation and destruction. If he is not regularly giving over to his sin then, praise the Lord! That's an amazing thing.
Host: Yeah, that's good. Ingratitude makes us focus on all the things we don't have, but gratitude shows us the value of what He has already given us. What else did you have?
Austin: Yeah. So, another thing I thought of that is very important is keeping an outward focus of loving others and seeing the needs of those around me. Maybe I'm facing some terrible, awful consequences, but all around me every day, whether I'm going out to my job, whether I'm spending my time with my family or my kids or whoever, there are needs all around me. And that's a great avenue to keep my eyes off myself: letting the Lord do good to others through my redeemed life.
If I don’t do that then what did He redeem me for? Just to feel happy and feel good? He made me to love others in this new life that He has given me. Even with the consequences of my sin, I can reach out with the testimony He's given me and bless others and do good to others. I can stop by and just take some extra time to make sure that my friend is really doing okay. Asking questions. Praying with others. There are little practical things that I can do that will keep me out of an inward focus that leads to selfishness.
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Host: Yeah. So, wow, living that love out to other people is really helpful. You have anything else?
Austin: Yeah. So, another thing that I thought of and I suppose it can encapsulate all of this is perseverance. When you think about consequences, what we're talking about is something that's going to take time. You can't make it go faster. You can certainly make it go slower. But there's a lot that isn't in your own control. And if I'm going to make it through, I'm going to need to persevere and I'm going to need to have an understanding that it's going to be hard. I need an understanding that I'm not going to feel like going through this with grace and with mercy, but I'm going to need to in order to get to what the Lord has promised.
And you know when thinking about this, I was reminded of Deuteronomy 8:2 where Moses is speaking to the children of Israel and says, “And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2, ESV) And in this whole vein of perseverance, that's kind of what the Lord is after a lot of times. He allows things in our lives to purify us. Not as a malicious thing of, “Now you're going to pay.” It's for our good that we're purified in our hearts so that we're not just serving the Lord because our circumstances are good.
Host: Wow. Yeah. Talk about having to live by faith. It takes a lot of faith to really believe that whatever consequences I'm having to experience are not punitive. It's not about God getting back at me. All of it actually is for my own good.
Austin: Yeah. That's so true. If I’m going to face these consequences and stand faithful without compromising with self-pity or cynicism and all of that, I need to see that these things are not God's wrath on me. I've been forgiven by the Lord. He does not hold these sins against me anymore. Jesus took that on the cross for me. Even if others may not have yet forgiven me, that's not God's attitude towards me if I have repented.
So, the hard things I am going through are only there for my good. God’s face is shining on us even during hard circumstances, because they are for our purification. And I'm passionate about this because I've had to really wrestle through this myself. Just because these consequences are hard and difficult does not mean that God is angry with me. And I've had to really be intentional about meditating on God's love for me and see that He is not against me, but He is fighting my battles with me and for me in this walk.
Sexual sin isn’t the only sin which you must be on guard against—Patrick shares about three more.
Sexual sin is not the only sin which struggling believers deal with. But some other sins are more hidden. Yet these will have no less a terrible impact on the Christian's life if he does not stand against them. In today’s message, Director of Ministry Outreach, Patrick Hudson, discusses three of these discreet sins and shares how to be on guard against them.
Episode 4 in our series challenges us to take an inventory of the lives we live. Are we REALLY devoted to the Lord or do we just SAY we are?
When you look at your daily choices, what do they reveal about your true devotion? If someone observed your life for a period of time, what would they say defined you? Our devotions aren't just what we say we value. They're revealed in how we live.
In episode 4 of our "Wholly Devoted Disciples" series, we unpack the vital topic of devotion and challenge ourselves to live fully for Jesus.
If you want your soul to be cleansed from sexual sin, you must join God in His cleansing process.
Good news, struggling Christian: God does want to bless you. But if your soul has been polluted by sexual sin, He must do a cleansing work in order to make you capable of receiving the wonderful life He has for you.
In today’s sermon, Steve Gallagher shares three biblical steps you must take to join God in His cleansing work. And for your personal use in this process, we’re glad to share with you the “Mercy” prayer, which we give to everyone in our counseling programs. You can download it here.
Holiness & consecration aren't relegated to the Old Testament. They offer power over sexual sin for today's struggling Christian!
The Old Testament is full of imagery of God's holiness. The consecration of the priests and vessels for the temple powerfully illustrate how we must reflect that holiness ourselves. But a lot of Christians today seem to think holy and consecrated lifestyles are just for those who lived during the "first big section of the Bible."
But the truth is, they really do apply to our lives today, and are deeply connected to victory over sexual sin.
Director of Ministry Outreach, Patrick Hudson, shares about changes to the podcast coming in 2026.
The heart of our podcast has been and always will be to help people grapple with the real truths of Christianity and apply them to their lives. That's not always comfortable, and it's not always what we hear in the Christian culture of our day, but it is the truth that sets men free—and keeps them free!
Director of Ministry Outreach, Patrick Hudson, steps in front of the camera to share a brief word about how we plan to accomplish this moving in to 2026!
📧Email: podcast@purelifeministries.org
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Joining us this week, Dr. John Oswalt preaches on the kind of Christianity that will change the world.
Have you ever wondered how you could worship the Lord one moment, but then give over to sexual sin the next? Perhaps it’s because of the kind of Christianity you’ve been living.
There is a kind of Christian life that has little to no impact on a person’s life—one that results in only shallow outward changes. But true Christianity has a deep impact on the soul and produces great spiritual fruit. And it’s this kind of Christianity we all need to win the battle!
We’re grateful to have renowned Old Testament scholar, Dr. John Oswalt, return as a regular part of our speaking rotation. In today’s message, he expounds on Romans 12:1-2 and a kind of Christianity that actually works.
Part 2 in our "Wholly Devoted Disciples" series shows how right perspectives on grace and faith help defeat sexual sin.
When a Christian learns what the Lord offers His followers through His grace and their faith, they can live a truly different life.
Now grace and faith are two of the most foundational concepts in Christianity. Many may think that means they don’t really need to hear any more about them in order to win the battle against sexual sin. But the truth is that, far too often, these crucial components of Christianity are terribly misunderstood.
That’s partly why so many Christians are stuck in sin.
Asbury Professor Emeritus, Steve Seamands, lays out God’s pathway to victory using Joshua 5.
Overcoming sexual sin can feel overwhelming to the believer stuck in cycles of failure. This defeatist attitude stems from a wrong way of looking. We look too much at ourselves and at our own weakness. But Scripture reveals that victory over any form of sin comes not from our strength, but from God’s power and might!
Asbury Professor Emeritus, Steve Seamands, explains God’s way to victory using the backstory to Joshua’s battle against Jericho. You’ll see that these things were, as the apostle Paul wrote, “written down for our instruction”.
We begin a new 5-part series! "Wholly Devoted Disciples." This week we discuss why repentance has been a bedrock in our ministry.
Devotion. What do you think of when you hear that word? Maybe it conjures up a sense of loyalty, of someone or something always being there—dedication.
Our latest series is called, “Wholly Devoted Disciples” where we will touch on different aspects of what it means to be a wholly devoted disciple of Jesus and why those aspects are vital to winning the battle against sexual sin.
In this first episode, Steve Gallagher discusses where devoted discipleship begins: repentance.
Timeless Truths: If we are to walk with the Lord and have true freedom, then we must learn to live by faith and not our feelings.
Timeless Truths: We naturally do not want to put faith into what the Word of God says. One example of that is when Scripture tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Certainly every believer has struggled with some situation that has challenged their belief in that declaration.
We have to learn to live not by what our emotions dictate, but by putting faith in the commands and the promises of Scripture. When we exercise faith, the One who has written those promises will give us the power to obey His commands.
And let’s not forget, if you’re listening to this podcast because you struggle with sexual sin, you especially need to learn that lesson. No matter how strongly you feel temptation, you can exercise faith and experience victory through the power of His Spirit!
Host: Okay, Austin, so you've worked in our counseling department for a number of years, and I wanted to start off by asking you how relevant you think this topic is, living by faith and not by feelings. If you could venture a guess and think about all the guys you've counseled, the guys that you've just kind of casually talked to while you've been on our residential program campus, what percentage would you say need to learn this lesson?
Austin: It's safe to say an absolute 99%.
Host: Wow. Okay, that’s big.
Austin: Yes. If not 100%. I can't think of anyone that I've counseled that I haven't addressed this issue with.
Host: Okay, so if someone is listening who's never even really thought in terms of, “am I living by feelings or am I living by faith,” can we first describe what it means to live by feelings?
Austin: Yeah, sure. So, to live by feelings is simply to live by one’s senses. You can easily quantify that by looking at a 2-year-old kid who's playing and they see a toy that they want. Once they see that toy all hell breaks loose until they have it. There's a sense and a desire that kid has as a 2-year-old of, “I want and I'm willing to do whatever I need to in order to get that thing.”
Let’s look at a teenager for instance as well. Let’s say he has a friend group and he wants to be like his friends. His friends maybe have the latest Xbox and so he really wants one now. So, this kind of a mindset of living by what I want, if it goes unchecked will continue to go step by step into each stage of our lives. If that goes unchecked in the teenager’s life as a young adult, who knows where this will lead him.
If you want to really boil it down, living by feelings would simply just be going by what feels best to me at the moment rather than taking into consideration and submitting to what the Word of God says.
Host: Yeah, that's really good because we are Americans through and through and one of the things that's deeply entrenched in our culture is this idea of, “I'm just going to be me. If I feel it, if I think it, I'm going to act on it.” And I think a lot of people, especially our younger generation are being taught to live this way. If you ask somebody, “Why didn't you go to work today?” They would maybe respond with something like, “Well, I just wasn't feeling it.” And as you said, that kind of life will end up being very destructive. And then on the other side, it can be really hard to break out of that kind of life, especially if you've been living like that for a long time.
Austin: Yes, certainly. And like you were explaining, for someone who's now really repented and is wanting to go toward the Lord, how does this now carry into their new life with the Lord? There are a couple of things that I've personally had to face as a result of going against my feelings. I'm not giving over to sexual sin anymore or doing things that in my past life I would have done, but now in my new life with the Lord there are things that are coming against me that I'm having to deal with as far as feelings go. Some of these things include despair, depression and condemnation. There are strong inward feelings that I experience and if I submit to those feelings that can run my life on the wrong track very quickly.
For me personally, learning this lesson was deep for me because I still remember in the program the first time that I started actually walking by faith. I remember, it was one of those mornings that you just feel dead and have no desire to spend time with the Lord and seek His face. But I knew, “Okay, this is what I need to do. I need to seek the Lord. I need to do my quiet time. I need to pray and read the Word.”
So, I went to the place where I usually did that, but I was like, “I can't. I just feel like I can't. I'm stuck. I'm sitting here, my Bible is open, but I just don't have it in me.” And in that moment the Holy Spirit reminded me of what my counselor had told me the night before. He told me, “You can choose by an act of your will to praise the Lord.” And that came back to me at that moment as a revelation of, “I can in this moment, even if I feel completely dead, choose to praise the Lord.” And as we know, the Word of God is full of commands to praise the Lord and in every circumstance to give thanks. So, I began to praise the Lord and thank Him for the Word of God and how sure and faithful it is.
And I just remember that after about 15 minutes of doing that, something broke. It went from being completely dead to me, to me being full of life. The Holy Spirit really began to speak to me and the Word of God began to be real to me. So, a morning that was completely dead got turned around all the way to where I was like, “This is the best morning time I've had with the Lord so far.” So, I just remember that for myself and see how powerful it is to obey even when I don't feel.
Host: You know, I've thought quite a bit about living by faith because I'm the same way. There have been some powerful feelings that have confronted me, assaulted me and tried to hinder me from really following the Lord. And at times I would make some gains like, “Okay, I'm living by faith. I'm not going to live by my feelings.” And then I would just inadvertently slip back into living by my feelings and then after some time passed I would realize, “Wait a second, I need to live by faith.” It took a lot of effort and I've definitely learned some lessons. And if someone is going to live by faith, there are some absolute things they need to know about it. What would you say some of the foundational lessons you have learned are?
Austin: Yeah. So, I would say there are about three major things I have learned that I need to do. The first one is probably a bit counterintuitive because a lot of what people hear about faith is to be bold in their faith and to do a lot of outward things, but I've found for myself that it is a foundational thing for me to persevere in a walk of repentance. The reason for that is that God is trying to give us something as believers, but the enemy is trying to allure us away from it by exploiting our tendency to live by our natural senses. The enemy is trying to nag at us from a natural point of view to lead us away from what God is trying to give us.
So, there's this war inside that I need to continually be purified in my heart in my attitudes, my motives, my loves and my affections, so that they really are being turned toward the Lord and purified by Him to where Jesus really is who I love, desire and treasure and not the things of this world. If that's not the case, I won't have any faith for what God is trying to give me. Why would I put faith in something that I don't even want? Why would I persevere beyond my feelings for something that isn't even valuable to me?
The second thing then, now that my heart is being purified is I need to put my trust in the character of God. And it's a choice. Again, faith is not something that's just going to happen on its own. It's something that takes an active choice. It's something that's very intentional. And so that second thing is choosing to put my confidence and trust in the character of God. And how do you do that? How does that work out? I would say that the ability to trust in God hinges on my attitude toward the Word of God, because the Word of God is how I know who God is.
That is the bedrock of truth for me. If the Word of God doesn't have absolute authority in my life, then I will find myself compromising here and there with, “Well, maybe God doesn't really stand faithful in this area of my life.” Or maybe, “God really isn't for me in this situation.” And it will begin to eat away at my faith. So, I really must have rooted in me a confidence in the Word of God that reveals the character of God to me.
And the third thing is choosing to praise the Lord even in difficult circumstances. For every single person that I counsel, we will talk about this at some point. Choosing to give thanks to the Lord is so foundational to persevering in this walk of faith. It keeps your eyes off yourself and your circumstances and keeps the Lord front and center.
We explore four ways the sexual sinner is like Pharoah, and how to avoid hardening our hearts like he did.
If you’re stuck in sexual sin, you’ve probably tried different ways to escape. But have you ever considered that the real problem lies within? It’s your heart.
In today’s message, Director of Ministry Outreach Patrick Hudson uses Pharoah’s rebellion in the Exodus account to break down four ways the sexual sinner hardens his heart towards God.
As Patrick testifies, God has made a way out for you—but it requires a response to His voice.
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