(Psalms 199:37)
Pornography is a problem many men and women have
battled for a long time. With the advent of the Internet, it has made
accessibility to pornography incredibly easy and has now become a very real
societal problem. As with all problems in society, many Christians also end
up caught in the traps the enemy has laid to destroy people's lives. Let me
say up front, DO NOT underestimate the destructive power of pornography.
Like all sin, it starts almost innocently, but always escalates.
One day you are browsing through X-rated pictures, and the next you are
actually involved in a real physical relationship. One day you are chatting
with someone, the next your chat becomes more graphic, and then you are
actually sitting next to them. Like all sin, there is a seductiveness that
eases you into it, and one day you wake up in total bondage to that sin.
The reason pornography is a sin is because God's plan for sexuality is for
one man, with one woman, for one lifetime. Our sexual thoughts are to be
only about that person God gives us to share our life with. ALL other
thoughts are impure. Fantasies take our mind to places we shouldn't be
going, even if we never act on them. The reason is, Jesus said if you lust
in your heart, you have already committed the act. Is it a high standard?
Yes! But God has called us to live at a high level in our life. We are to
live above the low standards of this world. We are to find our sexual
satisfaction in the mate God gives us to share our life with as our husband
or wife. That means very simply this. First of all, if you are NOT
married, you need to keep your thoughts pure and save not only your body,
but your mind for the one God has for your life. If you are married, your
sexual thoughts and activities are to be ONLY with your husband or wife.
Anything else is not God's plan and is sin.
Now that we know what God expects, let's talk about real life. Read, and
reread the second paragraph. There is to be NO compromise. This is what
God expects from us. Now, how do we get to that point? The best case is if
you are still young and have not been exposed to pornography, you have the
warning of this message to guard yourself against it. For those who have
been exposed in the past to pornography, the key is to "renew your mind" and
flush it out. We do that each day using the spiritual detergent of God's
Word. Stay away from and guard your thought life. Then there are those
who are currently involved in pornography at some level. It is bondage.
Before you can get victory over it, you have to want to quit. Once you get
to that point, then realize it is a battle. Like any battle, to see victory
you need a battle plan. You need one or several people in your life to be
accountable to. You need the strength each day only the Lord can give you.
There is victory over pornography just like any other sin.
I love you and will be praying for you. I realize this is hitting home with
many of you. Let it be a special tap on the shoulder from God, that now is
the time to deal with this issue in your life. It isn't going to change
until you decide to change. As you know, anytime we pervert the original
plan of God, things never really work. We always get cheated out of the
best God has for us when we settle for what the world offers. You can only
know the true blessings of God, the fullness of what life can give, when we
are in His will, living life His way. God is in the deliverance business, and I know He can deliver anyone from the bondage of pornography. I will be praying for those people
fighting this sin in their life and believing God to touch their hearts,
bring them under conviction, and help them to have the courage to take the
steps necessary to walk away from this sin and live a victorious life. He
is able, and can set you free.
