Matthew 5:27-30 – You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Our Battle: Culture has trained us to think about porn in everything we see. Billboards, TV shows, commercials, magazines, emails and internet ads. Everywhere we look we are bombarded with images. On the television we are slowly becoming desensitized by the male and female images the networks and consumer companies feed us. On the internet we are sometimes just one click away from a website with pornographic images. This is an epidemic. This is our battle. This is serious.
Pornography Statistics[1]
- Internet pornography sales = $4.9 billion
- Pornographic websites = 4.2 million (12% of total websites)
- Pornographic pages = 420 million
- 260 new porn sites go online daily
- 89% of porn is created in the U.S.
- The average age a person first views porn = 11 yrs.
- 1 of 3 visitors to all adult web sites are women
- 40 million adults visit pornographic websites daily
- Nearly half of all divorces list porn as a contributing factor
Effects of Pornography[1]
- Effect on the Mind: Pornography significantly distorts attitudes and perceptions about the nature of sexual intercourse. Men who habitually look at pornography have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexual behaviors, sexual aggression, promiscuity, and even rape.
- Effect on the Body: Pornography is very addictive. The addictive aspect of pornography has a biological underlying layer, with dopamine hormone release acting as one of the mechanisms for forming the transmission pathway to pleasure centers of the brain.
- Effect on the Heart: Pornography affects people’s emotional lives. Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their marital sexual relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Women married to men with a pornography addiction report feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and anger.
Confession/Forgiveness: Listen, no matter what you have done or what you think controls you today…there is always forgiveness available to us. Scripture says that all we must do is simply confess our sin, repent (turn from it), and we will be forgiven. The question is this…do we want to quit? Do we really want to be forgiven? I know that it’s a daily struggle with temptation. Perhaps, today you need to confess, repent, and be forgiven. All we have to do is ask. We can destroy the appetite for destruction. It will take much help from the Holy Spirit. It’s going to take a ton of self-control. You can do it. The victory has already been won because of Christ. The daily battles are what we face. Don’t face this fight alone. Please pray, ask for help from a trusted friend, be held accountable, smash your computer. Do whatever it takes!
I John 1:9 – If we confess our sins to him (Jesus), he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong.
James 5:16 – Confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.
Resources/Information/Help:
- www.xxxchurch.com (Christian)
- www.pureintimacy.org (Christian)
- www.throughtheflame.org (secular)
- www.oneangrygirl.net (secular)
Further Bible Reading:
- Galatians 5:16-17
- Ephesians 4:20-24, 30
- Colossians 3:5-8
[1] The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family, and Community by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D. (2009)
[1] Taken from Why Porn? www.xxxchurch.com
6 Responses to LUST CONTROL
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It ain’t easy. That is the point. Help me…do you think that I think it’s easy to battle lust and porn? I am not saying that at all. I want us to acknowledge the fact that it exists, realize the battle we face (every day), and choose to fight it. The battle is tough, forgiveness is the easy part.
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faith says:
no, its not easy at all. I am just saying…you made it sound like its simple…and to fight it, yes is strength, but a issue such as this goes much deeper than a seemingly computer problem. I have a friend of mine who has struggled for years, it eats my friend up…guilt, worthlissness overpowers this person…has asked for forgiveness and freedom many many times and still the same result.
Its not a easy fix. Its a cycle.
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thexjib says:
This right here is one of the biggest problems with your religion. People have normal, healthy sexual feelings and you shame them from a ancient book that has nothing to do with real life that people live in the modern world. Porn doesn’t hurt you, lust is natural, and sex is wonderful.
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travis says:
porn is a problem because it actually has gotten so bad that people go to the point of kidnapping women and rape them while taping it and then putting it on the internet. So you wanna tell me that porn isn’t a problem. If lust wasn’t a problem then why do we have the sex slave trade?
Oh and are we facebook friends? I thought we were but now I’m not sure…See you around
you know how “easy” you make it sound, right?