I’ve been addicted to porn since my teenage years, off and on, give or take. Honestly, I don’t even know how it all started, I just found my self in and cannot get out. I am a Christian, and I know it’s completely wrong to watch porn, but I’ve been so desensitized to it that I don’t even know why I look at it anymore; it’s just something I do because it’s there. I feel like a monster because of it.
Does the above experience pretty much explain what you have been through in recent years? Has it been hard for you to even open up for fear of being judged? Have you given up hope?
Just as it was with me, the fight with Porn addiction gradually brings us to the point where we question our ability to set goals and create positive results in our life.
It is not porn alone, I mean, we have an ocean-full of habits we want to break, but it just doesn’t seem to work out soon or as easy as we anticipate.
In Uganda, some Church leaders don’t really invest that much time in helping youth deal with this addiction. Assumption is that everything is fine and everyone is ok. But between you and me, we know what habits we battle with in the dark of the night.
It truly becomes an addiction when the experience stops being pleasant,but you instead increase its intensity by watching more risque scenes such as violent, rape themed porn, same-sex porn or even bestiality/necrophilia themed scenes.
Recent study shows that 68 percent of men in the church view pornography on a regular basis, the dominant cry in their hearts is: “l will never do this again; I won’t let porn control me anymore!” Most men who make a New Year’s resolution to never watch porn again find themselves back on the same websites in no time. Will power won’t fix it!
I know you’ve tried to quit and failed, several times.
Issue is, when you do not believe that your efforts will be rewarded, you quit and give yourself the only reward now available in your life: more porn.
I want to keep this article as brief as possible but I don’t know…Anyway, in my struggle to quit porn, I discovered that unless one thoroughly understands the underlying cause of your porn addiction, one will be addicted to it indefinitely.
Porn addiction does not come from porn; it comes from you, your situation and your search for a particular experience. What are you hiding from?
When you initially watch porn, its is a very pleasant experience, giving you the feeling of being relieved from anxiety, when in reality, those things in your life which cause anxiety grow more and more severe in proportion to your continued porn use.
Porn addiction changes your personality and character, just like any other negative habit.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Tim Jennings says, “Any type of repetitive behavior will create trails in our brains that are going to fire on an automatic sequence.” The result is years of bondage. This is how you can love the Lord but still be trapped in bondage to porn. You must renew your mind, and that is what God’s word is here for.
Reknown writer Chris Haven says to truly quit porn, you have to eliminate it at the root. The root lies deep within your mind. Getting rid of the root cause of porn addiction cannot ever happen by changing your outer circumstances or by acts of great willpower.
Find out what keeps you logged in. Ask God to help you figure out why you turned to pornography in the first place. Is it stress, boredom, loneliness, past history, or something else?
Break down your days and find the times that you usually act out. What is going on when this happens? Is there a pattern or common theme that comes up? Develop a plan that counter-acts these times and will stop you from.
I know I have not quoted a lot of scripture here, but one thing I should emphasize is that all this is backed up with prayer. He is the potter and we are the clay. If there is an addict to pray, their is a God to answer.
We cannot fix ourselves, but we need to put faith to action by taking an extra step. Get uncomfortable and tired of where you are. What is impossible to us is always possible before God.
Faith in God accomplishes two things. You permanently eliminate chances of throwing in the towel – Faith is Hope. This hope is renewed every morning just like grace.
Increase your happiness through Christ by realizing that the ability to completely eliminate your addiction and habits at their root lies in your hands.
[divider]
Send the writer your response on mail – aaron@ugchristiannews.com
