Are
You Afraid Porn Will Get the Better of You?
Today's
Three-minute Bible Study
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Study and Apply
Title:
Are You Afraid Porn Will Get the Better of You?
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Date: 2/14/2002
Keywords:
"Anxiety"
"Fear"
Welcome
to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand
strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage:
Philippians 4:4-6*
4. Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say, rejoice!
5. Let your gentle spirit be
known to all men. The Lord is near.
6. Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.
Questions
1. In what ways do you
justify your fears?
2. How do secret sins result in
a life of fear?
3. What would you be willing to
do to live a life absent of fear and filled with joy,
peace and great relationships with others?
Practical
help
If you give the questions
above serious consideration, you don’t need
further "practical help" from me.
The bottom line is that it is
not really hard to have a good life. It isn’t as
hard as running a marathon or wrestling with
alligators. So why is it that so few people seem to
enjoy life free of guilt and shame? The answer is we
believe we have something so special that we are
unwilling to give it up, even to God. We are "afraid"
to lose this unique "independence" and, in fact, we
glorify and justify it by mixing it with lofty ideas
we hear and read. For example, don’t you find it
ironic that the minute communities try to shut down
pornography, the people profiting from it complain
about their "constitutional rights"? It’s as if
they believe defending smut is absolutely essential to
being a good citizen.
So what exactly is this precious
thing we struggle so hard to protect? Take away the
excuses and the justifications, and you will see that
it is just selfishness. It’s the idea that my
life is more important than anyone else's or anything
else in the universe. So what does this have to do
with fear? Fear is the price tag for living in a
universe that is much bigger than you are and yet
still insisting on fighting for your absolute rights.
Standing nose to nose with God and demanding that He
back down is like playing chicken with an 18-wheeler
while sitting on a tricycle with three bad wheels.
So if what you think is
absolutely essential to life turns out to be plane-old
garden-variety selfishness, then give it up. Do what
verse 6 above tells you to do. Turn to God and pray.
Swallow your pride and ask Him for deliverance. Thank
Him that He, who is so much bigger than you, was
willing to go to a cross for you. Do this everyday.
Don’t stop just because it’s not as hard as
running a marathon.
Then rejoice and watch your life
change in wonderful ways as all those annoying fears
melt away.
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2002 by eXXit
*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation
1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995. Used by permission."
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