In case you have not yet come to terms with the scheme of things, as far as pornography is concerned, take a look at these statistics:
30 million users view porn with their mobile devices.
56% of all divorce cases had one of the partners addicted to pornography.
In the UK, porn sites are accessed more than social media and shopping sites.
In 2014, the popularity of Nigerian Google searches for porn on a scale of 0 to 100 was above 80! The average number of monthly searches for porn by volume was 165,000.
70% of people aged between 18 – 34 years visit porn sites at least once every month.
From 2001 to 2007, the revenue of internet porn industry went from $1 billion to $3 billion in the US alone.
1 in 8 internet searches online is for erotic contents.
In a survey, 35% ofthe boys interviewed said that they had watched porn too many times to count.
In another survey, 70% of the Christians interviewed said they were struggling with pornography in their daily lives.
In a Christian conference, 75% of the men in attendance admitted to being involved with pornography.
50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography.
In 5 Christian campuses surveyed, 68% of the males intentionally viewed a porn site.
Over 20% of calls to a pastoral care line are for help on issues of masturbation and pornography.
In another survey for Christian clergymen, over 30% of the men admitted to watching pornography. 61% of these were married men who masturbated. 82% of these masturbated at least once a week. 13% of these felt it was a normal practice to masturbate.
In a survey of 500 Christian men, 90% felt disconnected to God on account of pornography consumption
The statistics are alarming, but they present a vivid picture of what is obtainable in Christianity worldwide today.Masturbation and Porn are robbing the world of Kingdom giants!!!
1. Remember What You Are Fighting For:
It may seem redundant to list this one, especially as number one. I mean, you are obviously already serious about overcoming your addiction in pornography. I think that one of the most important things that you can do in your battlewith lust as rememberwhat is at stake.
When you arein the heat of the moment, lust can feel like a very large and impossible struggle.Comparethat strugglewith thesize of a God whoput the stars in the sky and the breath in your lungs. Compare your temptation to the outstretched arms of a savior who chose to die for your sin.
Suddenly, our strugglesdon't seemso big.We serve an amazing, merciful, loving God. Our temptations are tiny compared to Him. He (along with our family, friends, and loved ones) are worth way more than our lust. Always remember the weight of this issue. Put yourfoot down and stand upfor Godand your loved ones.
2 . Take Responsibility:
Remembering the grace of God is a very importantthing to do. It is also important to understand the seriousness of your actions, andtake responsibility for them. Iam often times asked why God lets someone have temptations . God doesn't give anyone temptation. Evil desire leads to temptation, then sin, then death.
Checkout James 1:1318. God gives us good and perfect gifts, not temptation. God also always makes a way for us to escape temptation . See 1 Corinthians 10:13.
When we blame someone else forour sinful actions we tighten the chains that bind us. We get comfy in sin andbondage, and complain that nobody has rescuedus. Don't blame your temptation on God, or on anyone else. Take responsibility for your sin, give your sin to Jesus for forgiveness, and boldly stand firm thatyouwill sinno more. What is the best way to do that? It starts with the heart... Keep reading!
3. Live A Life That Levels-Up Your Heart:
LoveGod; LoveOthers, Level Up Your Heart. That phrase is the tagline of Gamerfaith. I personallybelievethat we are madeto love. First, we are madetolove God. We are also made to show loveto God's people (thatwere made in His image). Sometimes we get so caught up in meeting our own day to day needs that weforget tothink about reaching out in love.
We need to live lives that prioritize reading our Bible, praying, praising, helping causes that showGod'sloveon thisearth, and focus on God'skingdom. When welive a lifethat is fully focusedon the kingdom, it makes it hard towaste time on stupid selfindulgent habits like pornography. (See Matthew 6:33 )
4 . If You Fail At First... Accept Forgiveness And Keep Fight ing:
Have you ever played alevel in a video game that wasted a ridiculous amount of lives? I have! In fact,I canthink of two levelsoff the top of my head that involved stockpiling dozens (maybe hundreds) of extra lives. Those levels weretough. They involved failing, and failing, and failing, and then there was that part with the speed boosters at the end... UGH!
After many failures, however, EVENTUALLY I reached the flagpole. Fighting lust addiction feels like that sometimes.You very wellmight fail a lot. It is frustrating. Every time you fail, though, youlearnto fight a little better. You are more prepared to reach that victory flagpole.
Don't give up. Keep fighting. God doesn't want you trapped in addiction. God is very forgiving. Jesus took your sin. If you fail, stand back up and keep trying. Don'tthrow upyour whiteflagyet. Eventually youwill succeed if you keep trying with all your strength, and with God on your side.
5. Don'tBe Afraid To Fear:
A lotof theinformation in this online ministry website is meant to encourage you in your battle. With that being said, lust addiction is a serious problem with serious repercussions. Duringmyown battlewith these addictions I found that I reaped many negative consequences from letting myself remain enslaved. For example:
SocialAnxiety, Inability to keep relationships, Tiredness, Depression, Lack of motivation, More so than all of these consequences, remainingin lust causedmetofeelapathetic inmy relationship with God. Thefurthermy addiction consumed me, theless I cared about living a purposeful life for God. One of the reasons I don't go back to my addictions is that I fear all of these consequences. I see how happy I am without them, and I don't want to go back.
6. You're AllowedTo Be Angry This Time:
Porngot youdown?Smash it with a baseball bat. Rip it to pieces. Throwon someChristian metalmusic, andmelt it into oblivion with a flame thrower. I'm only sort of joking. I rememberyears ago whenI wasstill battling my porn addiction.One daya relative jokingly knocked on my door and said, "Hidethe porn,
I'm coming in!" When the relative walked in theroom I said, "My porn is over there," and pointed to what used to be a pornographic VHS tape (old school I know). It wasno longer a VHS. It was now a pile of smashed up plastic and crumpled up film.
Here's what hadhappened. Thatstupid tape causedme tosin multiple times. Eachtime I felt disgusting, defeated, and depressed. One day I felt one more emotion, though... pure hatred for that piece of junk. So what did I do? I smashed it tobits and felta lotbetter. That tape never caused me to sin again.
7. Understand Your Guilt:
"I feel so guilty that I don't feel comfortable going tochurch, Ihave failed God so many times that Idoubt I'm saved anymore..." I get messagesfrom peoplewho say things like this all the time. This is a painful place tobe. The thoughtbehind this is usually along thelines of:IfI know it is a sin, but I do it anyways, doesn't that meanI'm in trouble?
I have a question for you. If your heart (tainted by sin) tells you that you need to quit, and it pains you tremendously to stumble, does that show that God is donewith you? I personally think that if you want to quit, God must be working on your heart. If God is working onyour heart, it seemslogical to assumethat He is nowhere near donewith you. Don'tletguiltpull you away fromGod. I hopethis fewtips will pave-way toward your struggling in overcoming pornography. May God bless you.
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