Just Say No, No
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title:
Just Say No, No---------------------------------------- Date: 2/25/2000
Keywords:
"beneficial" "constructive" "other-centered"
"permissible"
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand
strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage: 1 Corinthians 10:23,24*
23. "Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is
beneficial. "Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is constructive.
24. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Questions
1. What should we base our decisions on, according to verse 23?
2. What is another good decision-making criterion, according to
verse 24?
3. Does being "permitted" make something a good choice?
Practical help
For many types of pornography, there are no laws preventing its sale
and use. The same is true of many other things which can serve the same purpose, such as
nude art, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, Hooters billboards, etc. When it comes
down to it, we can use many forms of images to turn on the sexual juices, and it has
become so commonplace in our culture that we usually don't think twice.
Our decision-making will become much more holy if we can start thinking of everything we
do in terms of two questions:
Does this benefit me? (here we're talking about real benefit, not just good feelings) Does
this benefit others?
The best choices will be those for which both answers are yes. In verse 24, Paul isn't
saying not to seek things that are truly good for yourself, but just to avoid selfishness,
which is seeking your own good and ignoring others'.
Based on these two questions, we can resoundingly answer "no" to pornography on
both counts.
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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.