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Key Bible Verse: When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Bonus Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

If we're going to take the "way out" God has provided, we must avail ourselves of God's provision and change how we respond at the threshold of every sexually tempting thought. We must take those first thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. If we allow ourselves to mull over tempting thoughts, we'll eventually act on them.

Suppose a man is struggling with lust. One night his wife asks him to go to the store for milk. As he gets into the car, he wonders which store he should go to. The convenience store has a display of pornographic magazines, while the grocery store is safe—it doesn't peddle smut. As he pulls out of the driveway, the memory of the seductive photos he's ogled before at the convenience store tugs at him. The more he thinks about it, the harder it is to resist. He heads for the convenience store.

He's already lost the battle for his mind. The tempter whispers, Go ahead and take a peek—you know you want to. Everybody does it. Who would know? Rare is the person who can turn away from sin once the initial tempting thought has been embraced. That's why it must be stopped the moment it's first encountered.

—Neil Anderson in Finding Freedom in a Sex-Obsessed World

My Response: Am I resolved to suppress sinful thoughts as soon as they surface?

Thought to Apply: Unwillingness to accept God's "way of escape" from temptation frightens me—what a rebel yet resides within.—JIM ELLIOT (missionary and martyr)

Adapted from Finding Freedom in a Sex-Obsessed World (Harvest, 2004) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Your Word says that You bless those whose hearts are pure. Grant me the willpower to become and remain inwardly pure.

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