Why Not Porn? Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Why Not Porn?------------------------- Date: 12/24/2002 Keywords: "harm" "punish" "purity" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6* 3. It is God's will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4. that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5. not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6. and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. Questions 1. What three reasons does this passage give to avoid sexual immorality?   2. How can they apply to pornography?   Practical help The apostle Paul gets right to the point in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6. Don't engage in sexual immorality, he says, for three reasons: 1. God wants purity. Note that holiness is "God's will" for his people. Yet if a call for obedience doesn't motivate you to steer clear of porn, consider reason no. 2. 2. Immorality harms others. This seems obvious with adultery, but how does viewing pornography "wrong" another person? Stretch your moral imagination to encompass the performers. Your dollars lure them into a life that at minimum strips them of their dignity as human beings and at maximum may cost them their health and their lives. Porn hurts them — even if they don't recognize it. 3. God will punish. This one is spooky, but how can you spin "the Lord will punish men for all such sins"? Paul leaves unclear where that reckoning will take place — on earth or in heaven — but its reality comes through loud and clear. Better not to find out. Paul does highlight the one character trait that can help us heed his words: self-control. Learn to manage your passions by letting other believers hold you accountable. And keep visiting eXXit. Together, we can become that people that God created us to be. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2002 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. --