Perhaps one of the most frustrating for my in the battle against pornography, is the fact that sex is literally everywhere! I can do everything in my power to get sexual imagery out of my life...internet filters, throwing away porn, blocking television channels, refusing to rent movies with nudity, ect. Yet as much effort as I may put into this, I can still find sexual imagery in the most innocent of places. Grocery stores, billboards, restaraunts, hotels, at work...the list goes on and on. Not only that, but I can spend all the time in the world filling my mind with pure thoughts and making myself realized what a terrible thing pornography and lust are...but meanwhile a large portion of society is constantly trying to remind me how completely normal and healthy sexual promiscuity is. Conversations at work...discussions on the radio...even articles in the newspaper. Seems like the media and society want to convince everyone that it is strange, unhealthy, and downright weird to seek a pure life free from pornography and unhealthy sexual habits.
The question then is how to battle this? When we are putting forth our best effort to focus on God and seek purity...how do we deal with the imagery that we are bombarded with almost everyday? I suppose there's a few steps to that...
1) Prayer. This is always number one. But as I discussed in one of my earlier entries...we can't just wait until we're bombarded with sexual imagery. We must pray even when we are feeling strong and invincible. We must pray that we might not be bombarded with such imagery...but if we stumble upon something that might stir up temptation, that we have the strength to look away and not dwell on this. That brings us to #2.
2) Look away. If your checking out at the grocery store and the scantily clad woman on the magazine catches your eye...don't allow yourself to stare. Look away. Find something to distract you as quickly as possible. Drool over you favority candy bar instead. Read your horoscope. Stock up on those last minute items conveniently stocked by the registers..."hmm...maybe it is time for a new pair of nail clippers!" The longer we stare the longer that image will be in our minds...the longer we'll have to struggle to get it out. If we turn away immediately, we can't dwell on it. And to go back to #1...say a quick little prayer when you stumble upon something unexpected.
3) Be prepared. We know those magazines are at the front of the grocery store. I know where the billboard for the adult bookstore is. You know these things are there...so pump yourself up...get your game face on when approaching...and make the commitment to avert your eyes. You know its there. You can be ready for it. You have the upper-hand. Even still, there are times when something strikes out of the blue. An attractive woman walking down the street...or a an ad in the weekly bargain that always arrives in the mailbox. The best we can do here is not let our guard down. This stuff will always be around...we can't foget it. We must remind ourselves everyday that we will be faced with the imagery somewhere...and again, we turn back to step 1...we must pray we will have the strength to not allow our minds to dwell on any unexpected imagery we are faced with.
So to summarize, prayer...preparation...and distraction (I suppose it would make more sense had I written about those in the same order...but you get the point). Pray for strength...prepare ourselves to be bombarded...and distract ourselves when we are.
God Bless!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Miscellaneous Thoughts
Is anyone reading this? Seriously, feel free to comment or send me a message...I'd like to know I"m not just talking to myself.
One of my entries a few weeks ago, I talked about the need for more discussion about pornography addiction...as many people don't even realize how quickly the problem is growing. This week there was an article on CNN.com about XXXChurch: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/04/porn.addiction/index.html While I've visited their site a few times and not been completely impressed with their tactics, I do agree with their overall mission, which is to encourage open discussions about pornography and addiction. I think it's great to see them getting some press.
This past week I've been struggle with temptations a bit more, although I'm thankful that God has given me the strength to continue to overcome that. But I thought I'd share a few thoughts that I continuously try to remind myself of when I am struggling a bit more.
1) The tempations goes away...
I've sometimes gone a full week with little to no temptation...then out of no where I'll be hit with it. The funny thing is...I'll start to feel like I absolutely need to give in...and if I don't give in...the tempation will never go away. Some how I've forgotten all about the past week where I survived with barely ever thinking about pornography. But the devil is really just trying to trick us...the temptations will go away! Just as we go through periods where we can be relatively temptations free...we'll go through periods where temptations seem nearly unbearable...but we can't be fooled into thinking giving in will make them go away! In those times where we aren't tempted...we should be preparing ourselves for those periods where will will be tempted!
2) We have the strength to overcome!
Another thing I sometimes get tricked into thinking is that I am not strong enough...or I don't have enough will power...to beat this sin. But that's just another lie of the devil. God created us...and he has given us all we need to overcome sin. Why would he have created us...but made us too weak to overcome sin...then tell us we will be punished for giving into sin? That makes no sense! No...we can overcome our sins...and we should look to God to support us and give us the strength to resist the temptation of sins.
3) We can't give in...not even just a little...
In my past struggles I've found myself justifying my actions...trying to find ways to "break the rules". I used to try to convince myself that it was okay if I allowed myself to dwell on lustful thoughts...or if I just dwelled on imagery of scantily dressed woman as long as they weren't nude...or even convinced myself it was okay to masturbate to get rid of the temptations (at least it's better than porn). I talked about the slippery slope in my last post...and this is exactly when it starts. If I allow myself to give in to one of these seemingly harmless acts...I'm just starting small. It will take more and more to get the same amount of enjoyment...before long I will just fall back into the same habit.
So these are just a few thoughts that help me keep my sanity in times of temptation. Of course we can't forget how important daily prayer is in staying free of porn. God Bless!
One of my entries a few weeks ago, I talked about the need for more discussion about pornography addiction...as many people don't even realize how quickly the problem is growing. This week there was an article on CNN.com about XXXChurch: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/04/porn.addiction/index.html While I've visited their site a few times and not been completely impressed with their tactics, I do agree with their overall mission, which is to encourage open discussions about pornography and addiction. I think it's great to see them getting some press.
This past week I've been struggle with temptations a bit more, although I'm thankful that God has given me the strength to continue to overcome that. But I thought I'd share a few thoughts that I continuously try to remind myself of when I am struggling a bit more.
1) The tempations goes away...
I've sometimes gone a full week with little to no temptation...then out of no where I'll be hit with it. The funny thing is...I'll start to feel like I absolutely need to give in...and if I don't give in...the tempation will never go away. Some how I've forgotten all about the past week where I survived with barely ever thinking about pornography. But the devil is really just trying to trick us...the temptations will go away! Just as we go through periods where we can be relatively temptations free...we'll go through periods where temptations seem nearly unbearable...but we can't be fooled into thinking giving in will make them go away! In those times where we aren't tempted...we should be preparing ourselves for those periods where will will be tempted!
2) We have the strength to overcome!
Another thing I sometimes get tricked into thinking is that I am not strong enough...or I don't have enough will power...to beat this sin. But that's just another lie of the devil. God created us...and he has given us all we need to overcome sin. Why would he have created us...but made us too weak to overcome sin...then tell us we will be punished for giving into sin? That makes no sense! No...we can overcome our sins...and we should look to God to support us and give us the strength to resist the temptation of sins.
3) We can't give in...not even just a little...
In my past struggles I've found myself justifying my actions...trying to find ways to "break the rules". I used to try to convince myself that it was okay if I allowed myself to dwell on lustful thoughts...or if I just dwelled on imagery of scantily dressed woman as long as they weren't nude...or even convinced myself it was okay to masturbate to get rid of the temptations (at least it's better than porn). I talked about the slippery slope in my last post...and this is exactly when it starts. If I allow myself to give in to one of these seemingly harmless acts...I'm just starting small. It will take more and more to get the same amount of enjoyment...before long I will just fall back into the same habit.
So these are just a few thoughts that help me keep my sanity in times of temptation. Of course we can't forget how important daily prayer is in staying free of porn. God Bless!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
