Know before you go
I just saw this ad on Coloribus for google maps, the tag line reads “Know before you go.”
Pornography is a problem that effects most of America. It is a disease that is ruining men, women and families. As the church we should be leading the fight against this, but sadly we fall in line with the rest of the world. Here are some staggering facts about pornography.
- 12% of websites are pornogarphic
- $3,075 is spent on porn every second
- 40 Millions americans are regular visitors to porn sites
- 70% of men aged 18-24 visit porn sites every month
Now with that being said, how do we protect ourselves? Do you know what places, sites or images will tempt us? Basically, do you “Know before you go?” Before you go on a trip, go to work, or just hop on your computer or phone, do you know the areas that might tempt you? Are you preparing yourself for the temptation that surrounds you?
What holes do you have in your life?
XXX Church just posted a great article on the holes we can have in our lives. We need to know all the places that can lead us to sexual impurity, and guard ourselves from them.
- An unprotected computer or phone
- Magazines around the house
- Sensual TV channels or satellite radio channels
- People we are still friends with that pull us away from purity
- A sexual relationship with your girlfriend or boyfriend
- Having no strategy for your business travel
- Secret sexual sins you are holding onto and have still not confessed
- An Email account or a PO Box that nobody knows about
As G.I. Joe put it, knowing is half the battle. But the other half of the battle never really ends. We have an enemy that wants nothing more than to see us fail, and he pulls out all the stops. Here is another great list from XXX Church on how to fill in the holes.
- Confess the slips and confess the holes – We have to bring our struggles and holes into the light. We can’t manage them alone.
- Talk to someone about the temptations you feel – Deep work in recovery happens when you start talking about the “pulls” you’re having. What are you leaning toward? What’s pushing your buttons? What’s tempting to you? What is your mind preoccupied with or fantasizing about?
- Raise the bar. Move back the boundaries. – If we’re flirting with holes and “almost” slipping, the bar is not high enough. We are guaranteed to fail again. Re-evalute your boundaries and bounce them off someone in your support team.
- Build a strategy around your struggles – If we’re failing in an area or feeling tempted, we need a strategy. Set up roadblocks, accountability & find healthy directions to go instead.
- Get accountability – Bringing others into our lives has to be part of our purity journey. We are not strong enough to maintain purity on our own. A huge part of God’s plan involves “one another”. Holes won’t get plugged up long-term without the help of others.
Don’t do this alone.
The hardest part of this struggle is the guilt and shame, but please do not go through this alone. God has designed this live to be in community, and that is meant for the good times and the hard ones. Here are some amazing resources on overcoming this problem.
XXX Church
Covenant Eyes
Every Man’s Battle
What God says.
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. —1 Corinthians 6:18
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. —Hebrews 13:4
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. —1 Corinthians 10:13
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. —Matthew 5:28
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; —1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
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