A New Way of Thinking

A New Way of Thinking

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title: A New Way of Thinking -------------------------- Date: 1/21/2001
Keywords: "think" "transformation"
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.

Passage: Romans 12:1-2*

1. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Questions

1. Verse 1 (above) urges believers to DO something. What is that "something"?

2. Verse 2 (above) urges believers to make sure that something doesn't happen. What is that "something"?

3. Do you see a clue in verse 2 that would tell you how believers can escape conformity and be transformed?

Practical help

Believers find godly transformation and escape worldly conformity when they allow their minds to be "renewed." If that sounds too good to be true, it isn't. It is good AND it is true.

A porn viewer will find that the battle to be transformed into a non-porn viewer begins and ends in the redeemed mind and thoughts - not in either the feelings or the will. (If you are confused about what it means to be "redeemed" or "saved" and want to find out how to become a Christian, click here.)

Escaping conformity to the world, which says that porn is harmless and maybe even beneficial involves more than simply making a decision to say, "NO!" It certainly has nothing to do with waiting until we don't "feel" like viewing porn.

Victory is found when we think carefully about our actions. I need to realize that viewing Internet smut is ogling a person made in the image and likeness of God for my own pleasure and at the expense of their shame. It invariably and undeniably hurts my relationships with the opposite and my own sex. It stymies my growth as a Christian both because of a guilty conscience and because of real guilt (I am feeding the sin of lust). Viewing porn fuels an industry that stands for everything I oppose, especially the exploitation of men, women and children for the sake of sex.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLEŽ, Š Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."