This is the practical follow-up to my sermon on June 20, 2010 – “Lust, Lies and Truth.” You can listen here: http://www.epiphanystation.com/MEDIA
Most people try to free themselves from a pornography addiction by doing either one or a combination of these things:
- Asserting their will (“I’m not going to look at pornography today.”). This is akin to the alcoholic declaring, “I’m never going to drink again” when he wakes up with a horrible hangover or does something regretful. This is admirable, but if it is just your will against your addiction, you will lose most of the time. And even if you win today, you despair because you know you will only give in tomorrow.
- Constructing a bunch of rules and regulations (“All computers must be kept in a common area.”). This is not a bad idea, but in and of itself, it will fail because… well, because rules were made to be broken. And chances are you got to where you are by breaking a bunch of them already.
- Praying (“God, take away this desire.”). Again, not a bad idea, but in many cases, our prayers are misdirected. Newsflash: God gave you the desire, so He’s not going to take it away. It’s not enough to just pray. We must pray the right kind of prayers in conjunction with the things listed below.
Lust is a matter of the heart before it is an act of the body. Therefore, just simply modifying our behavior won’t solve the problem. It may for a time, but if we don’t address the heart issues, our lust will rear it’s ugly head again even stronger. Jesus doesn’t want our morality. He wants our hearts. We must allow God’s truth to change our hearts and transform our minds.
Put simply: Our love for Christ must outweigh our love for porn.
That said, here are 7 practical things I believe are necessary for finding freedom from pornography.
