Fixed
Paul J. Bucknell
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True success is based on ...
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Qualified
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What qualifies me to run?
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| Decisions |
What life events make me want to run?
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Events
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How have my past failures and victories shaped the way I will run this race?
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| Training |
What decisions have I made in my life that will ensure victory? |
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Our real success is going to come through:
1) Identifying whether we are genuine Christians.
If we do then we will love purity and hate sin.
2) Check your convictions based on God's Word.
We cannot be very thorough in this exercise. The best test is time and the trials of life. You might have already gone through some. But this approach does greatly help stabilize our actions, thoughts and decisions in uncertain times. Ask ourselves this question. Isolate the principles the best you can.
"If you were to face great health problems, relationship difficulties, the loss of loved ones, all your financial resources, etc., what are the principles that you would still live and even die for? Write these out on paper or send an email to yourself right now with that standard? Refine them later. Note any doubts in your heart about any areas that you write or avoid writing about.
3) Compare your convictions on sexual purity with this statement. Can you say this statement with your heart's full willingness? What areas are you hesitant about?
I desire and will by God's grace to be faithful to the call of sexual purity in my life, whether married or not. I will not look with lust upon another. If married, I purpose to be totally content in the delight of my wife. I might be tempted by women, despair in the loss of my job, bewildered with the loss of all wealth and security, perplexed by the turn of affairs in my life, but I will remain faithful to God and if married to my wife. If at any time I fall from this standard, I will quickly humble my heart, acknowledge my fall, confess my sins, plead for forgiveness, reaffirm my passion for God's standard, correct any bad habit, straighten any broken relationship and let those I am accountable to know about my circumstance and specific steps of renewal.
4) Evaluate the development of your convictions on sexual purity.
• Firstly, draw a graph picturing your commitment to the biblical standards for sexual purity throughout your life. A sample is below:
The last test is to test how we respond to
After looking at the graph, I would ask a few questions regarding sexual standards like:
1) What did your parents teach and live?
2) What influences caused you to fall in your preteen age?
3) What did you feel about yourself when you were at your lows?
4) What happened when you were 25 years old? Who influenced you?
Why did that have such an impact on you?
5) How did the early (pre-10) and late (post 25) standard compare? Why?
6) Are your present convictions based on the God's view? How do you know?
7) In what areas are you short of ten? What is keeping you back?
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• Events - do I know the real reasons I am running?
We must think through what the key events are that got us interested in this race. We might think of moral defeats, challenge to be a godly leader, scared that you were almost caught. These events are what propelled you to run for moral purity. But they usually are not enough to bring us across the line. So we need to think through a bit more clearly how to adopt those goals that will help you succeed at this good and wonderful goal of sexual purity.
What are the key events that prompted you to run?
Any particular person? What about them attracted you?
Any particular goal? What do you want from the race?
Any thing you are trying to avoid by running?
