Banes S. Lal
Is God or something else at the centre of your moral compass?
As I mentioned in Part 1, pornography addiction can alter brain chemistry like a drug. It can have long-term consequences on a person's physical capacity for healthy sexual relationships. This indulgence rewires your brain destructively, thus warps your affections. As a result, engaging in pornography damages your conscience. Your conscience is your awareness of what you consider "right" and "wrong." Pornography desensitizes your conscience since it suppresses and silences your mind while rationalizing your sin. You can eventually degrade it to the point where it no longer reprimands you when you sin. As a Christian, you must renew your mind with the Word of God.
But too many Christians are ineffective in their struggle against sexual sin. They either concentrate on their internal fight with little or no regard for the outside world. Or they are preoccupied with their external conflict, with little or no regard for their inner battle. Both should be part of our war strategy. We need our internal feelings to fuel our external fight against pornography. As noted earlier in Part 2, The healing process can only begin when we repent and seek forgiveness from God for transgressing his intended design and purpose.
But ultimately, it is Christ, not better methods, techniques, or instruments, that is what Christians confronting pornography need the most. "Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16). This bond is profoundly real, immensely personal, and intimate. The Holy Spirit, the link that ties us to Christ, brought about this relationship; it is a spiritual one. (John 14:16–20; Romans 8:9–11)
Now, if through faith we are brought into this union with Christ, it is because of this union we are able to experience all of Christ's blessings. No sin is too severe to be forgiven by Jesus' shed blood on the cross. The death of Jesus made atonement for every sin. You are not required to lead a life of guilt and humiliation.
If you recall in Part 3, Glorifying God is a way of being, thinking, and acting that exalts God. It displays God's infinite greatness and holiness. It demonstrates God's all-knowing and all-satisfying nature. So be what you are: pure, holy, and righteous. Surrendering to pornography does not glorify God with your body.
When we trade our sin for our Savior, we trade our old lives and identity. Our new identity is a child of God. You must thrive to pursue a true fellowship with God, the kind of relationship where you can go to Him when you feel broken, tempted, and alone. You can rewire your brain. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," Romans 12:2. You can break free. Taking responsibility by confessing your sin to God is the first step. The second is seeking counselling, mending any relationships that you may have damaged, and finally taking action to lessen your exposure to graphic imagery.
It's the only way to bring this beast down.
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