UNDERSTANDING THE RUIN CAUSED BY PORNOGRAPHY
Pornography viewing is addictive and progressive. Participation in pornography use in one of any of its forms -- magazines, videos, movies -- may start out innocently but the end is ruin. It could branch out into phone sex, sex with prostitutes, a sexual perversion, window peeping, etc. It dominates a person's thoughts once they are hooked, and becoming hooked is quick and insidious. Use of pornography takes a regular guy and turns him into the shell of a man, empty of his once wonderful, normal, happy self. That's not to say women can't be hooked on pornography also.
What begins as viewing magazine pages of naked women could eventually lead to acting out with real women. The viewing continues in his mind's eye until it is constant and obsessive. The addict can't wait for his next fix. He may want to control himself but can't seem to do it. In the meantime, he has to lie in certain situations lest he be found out. He eventually becomes a compulsive liar. He has to hide his double life from loved ones. His behavior becomes suspicious to some. He may lose his job if he is caught viewing pornography at work. His mind works in abnormal ways until he may become mentally ill or mentally disturbed. His bizarre behavior may lead to divorce and separation from his children. He may live out his last days alone.
In the beginning, the addict worries about his relationship with God, rightfully so. But in time, he is no longer concerned with what God thinks. He just needs another high. That is the pattern of other addictions also.
A man who looks at pornography can easily be hooked; it is highly addictive. He may have control over it in the beginning, but it will eventually take over his mind, holding captive every thought, creating mental illness. It will become his master. He will live in a fantasy world, and will eventually be unable to distinguish between reality and the fantasy. Because his focus is elsewhere, he will let many other things slide. His work habits will suffer, as will his family relationships. His view of women will be abnormal. His relationship with God will eventually be cast to the wind. When he is no longer able to process thoughts properly, when his logic is warped, when he cannot control his own actions, and when he is unable to focus on what is important, he will be mentally ill and spiritually dead.
Are you storing away information that is trashy or wholesome? Does your mental library need a good cleaning? If one who has spent the majority of his/her time focusing on unwholesome thoughts and decides to “clean house,” that person should take care to fill the house with wholesome thoughts or the end result could be worse. Luke 11:24 says, "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." What person wants an evil spirit taking up residence in his brain, little own seven of them. What a pitiable existence when the choices one makes are controlled by an evil spirit and the person cannot make healthy decisions without a major battle going on in his/her brain. I Peter 4:7a says, “Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled…”
Those caught in the throes of any sin can develop mental illness. Sin leads to guilt and depression. Depression causes a loss of interest in things that were once important. It produces an excessive amount of negative thoughts. Thinking becomes distorted. It can even lead to suicide.
Here’s the Good News Fortunately for all of us, true repentance can set us free. Baptism can wash our sins away. We can start new again. We are offered a fresh slate on which to write our thoughts. I don’t mean to make starting new sound easy because often it is not. But it is an opportunity made available to us by Christ’s death on the cross, an opportunity that gives us hope and joy once again. It brings peace that passes understanding. So, be transformed by the renewing of your minds, give up the insanity.
Job 31:
“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.
2 For what is our lot from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?
4 Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit—
6 let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless—
7 if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,
8 then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.
11 For that would have been wicked,
a sin to be judged.
12 It is a fire that burns to Destruction;
it would have uprooted my harvest.
Psalm 101:3-4
I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. 4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
Prov. 2:12-14
Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
Prov. 3:32
For the LORD detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence.
Proverbs 28:6
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
Proverbs 28:18
Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
Romans 6:11-14
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
II Cor. 10:1-5
By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I Thess. 4:3-5
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God…
I Thess. 4:7-8
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Jude 1:7
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
These verses can weigh heavy on the heart of one who has this addiction or any other. But keep in mind God forgives. He wants you to belong to Him and not some demon. He wants you to be free to be who you are with your own clean thoughts and actions. He wants you to live in harmony with members of your family. He wants to greet you in heaven where He will see your name written in His book of the redeemed. Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Re-train your brain and maintain purity. Seek help. It's difficult to recover without help. Join a group of those who are also recovering unless they do more to lead you astray again than to help. Anyone like that is not your friend.
