Winning the battle*
14 May 2008

I've been talking about pornography over the last few months. Here's a distilled list of things to help you/me/us win the battle.

Things that just don’t help…

  • My hunch is that people are more susceptible to temptation of porn because of the extra pressure and stress. This is especially try of the person in ministry.
  • Sadness and depression.
  • Being disorganized more generally which in turn leads to late nights.
  • Lack of accountability
  • Lack of stuff to do not keeping busy with things to do. This leads to aimless internet late night wanderings. Perhaps this is more prevalent in the holidays.
  • Aspects of our culture seek to teach us that looking at porn is ok.
Things that do help
  • Accountability and talking to someone about the problem.
  • Talking and being proactive about keeping others accountable (of the same sex).
  • Acknowledging and praying about the problem.
  • Regular exercise.
  • Being organized so as not to find yourself in tempting situations.
  • Being careful not to put yourself in situations where you will be tempted.
  • Computer monitoring software
  • Cutting off your internet altogether.
  • Cold showers (suggested by a MTS apprentice mate)
Finally I'm not sure that the battle can be truly won in this life. In other words it aint over till it's over. I'm open to other suggestions. Feel free to comment anonymously.

*I’m indebted to Mark Barry for some of this advice

 

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4 comments:

Anonymous said... 5/14/2008 12:53 pm  

Aspects of our culture seek to teach us that looking at porn is ok.

this has stood out to me in the last week on the train.

a bunch of young guys have had dodgy magazines on the train. no shame. no covering them as i walk past. sitting next to old ladies and no shame!!

it's nuts.

Anonymous said... 5/23/2008 9:09 am  

I think if you're struggling with this, its a good idea to keep reminding yourself of the reasons why porn is bad, not just a harmless indulgence with no consequences or side-effects but with a sin label on it. The devil will tell you lies and you'll try to justify it in your mind, and the truths can get twisted or avoided.

Make a text file on your computer and make a list of reasons why porn is wrong. Look at it whenever you feel tempted to indulge, or just read it at other times (because you probably don't want to read it when you're tempted to indulge, so its good to prepare yourself by locking solid truths into your mind).

To help you get started, here's some reasons why porn is wrong:
-Biblical commands to flee sexual immorality
-it trains your eyes to look at women in the wrong way
-its hard to get the images out of your mind again
-it gives you feelings of guilt and harms your relationship with God
-if you have a wife or girlfriend, it really harms that relationship
-and you can think of more

mike said... 5/23/2008 11:17 am  

Thanks for the advice. Most helpful has it been something you have struggled with in the past?

Anonymous said... 5/23/2008 11:57 am  

oh yes, i'm just passing on something that has been helpful for me..

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