Winning by Losing Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Winning by Losing------------------- Date: 6/28/2002 Keywords: "brokenhearted” “crushed" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Psalm 34:18* The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Questions 1. Has your pornography habit crushed your spirit?   2. Are you deeply ashamed at your past failures to maintain purity?   Practical help How is it possible that a true Christian also could be involved in an ongoing, relentless, secret sexual sin habit? That may be your question about yourself. “What is going on?” you wonder. Didn’t you give your heart to God? Why doesn’t He clean up your life like you thought He would? Perhaps today’s passage will help deal with this tricky problem. The verse above seems to imply that God desires us to break — to surrender. He wants us to come to the end of ourselves. Too many Christians are still running on their own steam. They say to God, “You stay out of my life until I need You for something really big. I think I can handle the little things.” Then we determine what is big and what is little. Porn happens to be in the “little problem” category for many people because it doesn’t seem to hurt anyone. (Wrong.) God doesn’t seem to cooperate well with this plan, probably because it only results in fanning in us an attitude of arrogance, that we know what is best and are in control. He doesn’t want us to become more independent of Him but more dependent on Him. At this point, you might be thinking that this is a weak and undesirable position to be in. Who but a wimp would ever do such a thing voluntarily? Let’s close today with Philippians 2:5-11. I hope it breaks your heart. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 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." ---