The Disciplined Life Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: The Disciplined Life-------------------------- Date: 4/29/2001 Keywords: "self-control" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Proverbs 25:28* Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. Questions 1. What is Solomon's point in this proverb?   2. How could it apply to your struggle against pornography?   Practical help The disciplined life gets short shrift in today's world — even in Christian circles. In our postmodern, post-'60s world, we demand so-called authenticity. Why stay in a job/marriage/belief system if it doesn't "work for you"? You've got to be "true to yourself." Or as the latest street slang goes, "You gotta' be real." Yet "real" too often means choosing what we feel at the time, not what we vowed to do in a job interview/wedding ceremony/altar call way, way back. No wonder Solomon compares a lack of self-control — an undisciplined emphasis of emotion over commitment — to a city without walls. Invaders like pornography just walk right in and take possession of our very selves. But we are not without a defense. The defense, of course, is self-control. Maybe we can start by not singling out pornography; we can exercise self-control in many ways. Remember that Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:8 that "physical training is of some value." The exercise of self-control in one area can spread to others. Perhaps running every other morning can help us turn down extra jelly donuts later. And maybe refusing our morning caffeine fix can prepare us to avoid the evening porn viewing. Self-control is like a muscle. Exercising it leads to a disciplined life. 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.