Resisting the Temptation To Watch Porn 101

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Resisting temptation is 99.9% of your battle against addiction. I used to think I’d go crazy if I didn’t get my fix. Perhaps you can identify. I literally couldn’t imagine life without my cherished sin. That is until I made a commitment to practice resisting temptation. The result of starving the habit is that it faded into the background of my wonderful life. Eventually, I didn’t feel like I needed it anymore. It may be hard to believe, but you can live without porn.  

To avoid relapses, you must take your freedom walk seriously. The amount of energy that you used to put into feeding your addiction is the same amount of energy you must put into starving it. Because, dear reader, temptation will come.  

HERE ARE 7 WAYS TO RESIST TEMPTATION

1. Pray.

When faced with temptation, the first thing that you should do is ask God for help. As obvious as it seems, praying is usually the last thing people think about when faced with temptation. Most of us immediately go into “willpower” mode. When faced with temptation, it’s important to remember that a quick prayer will open the door for God’s intervention. Remember, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. He can give you the power to say no.  

Contrary to what most of us have been taught, prayer doesn’t always have to be long and elaborate. A simple, “God, help me to resist this temptation,” will suffice. Better yet, you should wake up every morning saying, “God, I die to myself, and I receive the power to resist temptation today!”  

2. Take control of your thoughts.  

Your imagination is a beautiful and powerful gift from God. It is a collection of thoughts that will ultimately create your reality. God created the world based on what he envisioned it to be in his imagination.  

The enemy would like nothing more than to hijack your imagination, filling it with perverse thoughts and fantasies. These fantasies can cause you to sin in real life. Your enemy knows this. He knows that if you even look at a man with lust in your eye, you’ve committed a sin. He knows that if you imagine yourself having sex, your body will respond accordingly. When you masturbate, your body thinks that it is indeed having sex. In essence, it is.  

Here’s what you should know. When the enemy makes his way into your head, he is trespassing on God’s property. At that point, the Bible tells us to recognize the thought, arrest it and command it to submit to Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5). This is no different than catching a burglar in your house, taking him down, and tying his hands so that he can do you no harm.  

You can take control of your thoughts by speaking God’s word. For example: “I take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Leave me, in the name of Jesus!  

3. Speak to temptation, aloud.  

There’s a quick exercise that I’d like for you to try. Think about something, anything, for a few seconds. Then in the middle of your thoughts, start talking. If you’re in a public place, you can do this exercise later. I don’t want people to think you’re crazy. But if you’re alone, or if you don’t care what people think, go ahead. Try it.  

What happened when you spoke? That’s right, you lost your train of thought. Here’s the deal. Temptation starts in the mind, you know this. But it’s difficult, if not impossible, to think and talk at the same time. So when those perverted thought pop up in your mind, tell them to GO! Or begin to speak the word of God, or pray. The bottom line is that you must SAY SOMETHING.

4. Be assertive!  

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he responded with the word of God. And still, the Devil refused to back down, and so Jesus became assertive. After the Devil told Jesus to turn a stone into bread and to jump off a cliff, of all things, he took Jesus to a very high mountain. That is where he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “But you must bow down and worship me.” By this time, Jesus had had enough. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said, “For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”  

Did you catch that exclamation mark? Jesus didn’t politely ask him to leave. On the contrary, Jesus demanded the Devil to get lost. Most people are used to seeing images of the doe-eyed Jesus. A soft, glowing Jesus with light emanating from his head. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus wasn’t quiet and meek all the time. Not when the situation called for him to be loud and assertive.  

5. Destroy Triggers.

This is vital. Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, and a new life has begun. If this is true, why do we hold on to things that have caused us to sin in the past? If you are aware that something in your home might cause you to sin, go ahead and destroy it. A part of resisting temptation is purifying your environment. Purifying your environment means removing detestable objects from your home. There are certain things in our homes, or in our rooms, that only serve as stumbling blocks to our faith walk. If we’re serious about walking in freedom, we’ve got to get rid of them. Here are some suggestions:  

 Delete any pornographic pictures, movies, or clips that you’ve bookmarked on your phone or computer.  

 Delete all lustful music that might cause you to think about sex.  

 Throw away all DVD movies that might cause you to think about sex.  

 Throw away all romance novels or lusty magazines that might cause you to think about sex.  

 Check your computer and phone. Delete pictures of your favorite male superstars or crushes, especially if they cause you to think about sex. And if you have pictures of these guys in your house, throw them away.  

 Get rid of your computer if you need to.  

 Cancel your cable, or downsize it to exclude channels that offer sexually explicit entertainment.  

 Destroy and throw away all objects of the occult. This includes books about magic, astrology, horoscopes, and pagan religions. It also includes Ouija boards, dream catchers, good luck charms, Tarot Cards, and New Age crystals.  

 Destroy clothing associated with past sins (daisy dukes, stripper hills, mini dresses, sexy costumes, etc.)  

 Single ladies: throw away those sex toys, vibrators, condoms, and birth control pills. I don’t care what anyone says, you don’t need those things if you’re walking in purity.  

 Gamers: destroy video games that depict sinful acts for entertainment (violence, murder, sex, magic, spell-casting, etc). Also, destroy games that contain characters who are dressed seductively.  

 Destroy letters, messages, and pictures of people that you’ve committed sexual sins with.  

After you rid your home of sin inducing items, you must fill it with things that will help you live righteously. For example, you can post Bible verses in key places around your house. You can also fill the atmosphere with praise and worship music as often as possible. If you don’t have any praise and worship music, search the web for praise and worship music artists. You’re sure to find something of interest.  

I’m not telling you to be weird or religious. Nor am I saying that you can only enjoy things that are “Christian.” What I’m saying is that you cannot keep living the same way and expect a different outcome. You can’t live a pure life if you continue to expose yourself to things that remind you of your old, sinful nature.  

6. Avoid, Avoid, Avoid  

Avoiding sticky situations is one of the easiest things that you can do to stay on the straight and narrow. If you don’t expose yourself to it, then you can’t be tempted by it. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure because we refuse to avoid certain people, places, and things.  

7. Run!  

That’s right, when all else fails, flee the scene. This may seem cowardly, but sometimes it makes more sense to run than to fight. In 2 Timothy 2:22, the Apostle Paul tells us to run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. In other words, remove yourself from the situation. 

My sister, running from sticky situations doesn’t make you weak; it makes you wise. With wisdom comes blessings and favor.