The Fist-clench Blues Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: The Fist-clench Blues ----------------------- Date: 9/14/1999 Keywords: "past" "future" "prize" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Philippians 3:13-14* 13. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14. press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Questions 1. How do you view your past failings with pornography?   2. According to Paul, what is a mature perspective of the past?   Practical help Some memories are so intense they evoke a physical response. Happy ones can bring a smile. Embarrassing ones can hit us like a punch in the gut or cause the involuntary fist-clench. For many people, past encounters with porn fall into the latter group. We berate ourselves for our stupidity, rehashing how these images hurt our relationships and self-confidence. But that wouldn't be biblical. Paul takes a radical position on the past: He forgets about it. And that makes sense. Why let the past drag you down when the prize of heaven lies ahead? So the next time you feel the fist-clench over some bygone error with porn, refocus on the future. After all, that's where you'll spend eternity. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1999 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.