Internet Porn Addiction

QUESTION: Is there a way out of internet porn addiction?

ANSWER:

Internet porn addiction is like many other addictions. It is not an easy journey toward the road of victory. However, before I get into how I have achieved success, let me share with you the inception of my problem. I don't believe anyone sets out saying, "I'm going to become addicted!" Therefore, I think where I began is a common lure, but soon turned into a destructive trap.

When I was a boy, I began looking at the girls rather than the toys in the big catalogs. The seeds of pornography were planted. The next step in feeding this snare was "girly magazines" my dad brought home. That was followed by my young buddies sneaking out the magazines belonging to their older brothers. The obsession grew from there.

My ideas and thoughts became fixated on what got me "high" and fed my "pleasure." Those planted thoughts formed my concept of reality, my feelings toward girls, life, and myself. As a young person, I really believed these thoughts were "mine" alone and didn't hurt anyone else. But as I matured, I began to realize that my thoughts affected my attitude and my attitude affected my conduct and that affected everyone else!

I began to develop a desire to change. I discovered a Bible verse that spoke to me "All the ways of a man are clean (innocent) in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the spirits" (Proverbs 16:2). Then verse 3 gave me a lot of encouragement stating, "Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established." There was a battle going on for my thoughts. I had to make a decision to bring my thoughts under control!

2 Corinthians 10:5 says we can pull down any strongholds by "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

No matter the addiction, Christ comes into a life with the power to transform and conform. Once I believed my thoughts were my own but then I learned the need to take my thoughts captive for self control and a mature male attitude toward women. It is a daily decision. I make a conscious decision to look away. Of course temptations continue but I decide that "I" take control of what I allow myself to think, feel, and view. My desire to become Christ-like overcomes all other desires. I hunger to have a real relationship with God and that is now my focus and pleasure.

By yielding my life to Jesus Christ, I allow Him to empower me to have the strength to turn away. He gives me the needed ability to not succumb to those temptations. In my own abilities, I am weak. Only in giving Jesus the authority over my life, do I have success overcoming pornography and lust.

To learn practical strategies for combating pornography addiction, read Every Man's Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker.