Hold me Jesus

Matthew 7:12 (NLT)

12 Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

Christ came to teach us, not only what we are to know and believe, but what we are to do; what we are to do, not only toward God, but toward men; not only towards our fellow-disciples, those of our party and persuasion, but towards men in general, all with whom we have to do. The golden rule of equity is, to do to others as we would they should do to us. [Matthew Henry]

I love this illustration of accountability. Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. For one day you may need someone with you to keep you accountable or they may need someone to help them with an issue with which they struggle.

Rich Mullins, a Christian musician and songwriter who died in 1997 at the age of 41, once confessed in a concert that he struggled with watching pornography while traveling alone. One of his spiritual mentors told him, "It's not that you're so bad, it's just that you're not supposed to go out by yourself." So Mullins took a friend along with him on a trip to Amsterdam near its famous red-light district. Mullins said he was hoping his friend would fall fast asleep and start snoring so, as Mullins put it, "I thought, 'Maybe it would be fun to just take a walk and be tempted.'" He waited until 5:00 in the morning for his friend to start snoring, but he never did. Meanwhile, in the midst of his temptation, Mullins picked up a notebook and wrote the words to one of his more popular songs, 'Hold Me, Jesus'":

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark

 It's so hot inside my soul

 I swear there must be blisters on my heart

 So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

 You have been King of my glory

 Won't You be my Prince of Peace"

With this back story, some people call this Mullins' "Prayer for Porn Addicts" song, but it could also be a called a "Prayer for Anyone Who Is Tempted" Song.  [Luke Gilkerson, "'Hold Me Jesus': A Prayer for Porn Addiction," Covenant Eyes, June 17, 2010.]

Hold me Jesus for I am always in need of you!