Stop Stoning Yourself Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Stop Stoning Yourself-------------------------- Date: 4/22/2001 Keywords: "condemn" "forgive" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: John 8:3-11* 3. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4. and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6. They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11. "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." Questions 1. Whose forgiveness is more significant? Yours, or Gods?   2. Do you count yourself forgiven? (If not, click here.)   Practical help Question: What's the difference between someone who succumbs to temptation once every five days (or so) and someone who succumbs once in five years? Answer: Something pretty powerful to look forward to! It's called transforming grace. You've probably read of heard the story in today's passage. It's a fairly famous Bible story in which Jesus points out deception and hypocrisy and offers compassion and forgiveness. So, what does this have to do with a porn problem? Well, maybe a lot if you find yourself in the role of the adulteress — when you slip and surf to a porn site, and also the stone throwing Pharisee — when you deal with your slip by living under a cloud of perpetual self-condemnation. If every new moment that lies ahead of you is lived believing that you still need to be "stoned" for that last failure, pretty soon all you can see yourself as is a failure. And what do "failures" do? If, on the other hand, you look at what lies ahead through Jesus words — "neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin" then you start to see yourself as forgiven. In which condition would you rather face your next temptation? eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2001 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.