Intimate Relationships Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Intimate Relationships------------------------- Date: 12/27/2002 Keywords: "intimacy” “friends" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12* 9. Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12. And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Questions 1. How does intimacy develop?   2. Do you think single people are able experience intimacy in their relationships?   3. What impact does porn have on the quality of relationships?   4. What role does God play in intimate relationships?   Practical help A common belief today is that intimacy and sex are synonymous. In other words, you can’t experience intimacy without being sexually involved. The problem with that belief is that it falls far short of what human beings really need in terms of intimate relationships. Intimacy is not just physical and sexual; it’s relational and grows in an atmosphere of love, safety, truth and trust. Intimacy is a matter of the heart and mind, not just the glands. Intimacy can also be experienced by singles in very fulfilling ways through close friendships. Porn destroys the foundations of intimate relationships because by nature it is false, counterfeit and kept hidden. When hidden porn use is discovered, trust is broken, intimacy is lost, and others feel deceived and betrayed. No one likes to find they have been lied to! You may not be fully aware of the negative consequences that porn is having in your relationships with others. If you are stuck on smut, you probably don’t have healthy intimate relationships with others. You have a basic need that porn can never fill. God created you to have close relationships with others based on truth. Look to the Lord today for help in reversing the effects of porn in your life. Ask for His help directly, and ask for His provision of a trusted friend to help shoulder the burden. 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. --