Feature 4 for March 2022: ““Keeping Our Hearts Pure”” (Shereen Ghobrial)

Feature 4 – March 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Keeping Our Hearts Pure: Pornography Addiction

Challenge Is Hard

All of us go through big challenges during our teenage years. The teen years are hard because 80% of the changes in one’s life happen between the ages of 10–20, including size, skills, personality and career. It is like a dark tunnel; you enter as a child and you exit as an adult. The tunnel is filled with obstacles, criminals and, sometimes, good people willing to be a help. Scientific studies have proven the amount of stress in the teen years exceeds all other periods of life.

How To Deal With The Challenges?

We all feel vulnerable when we face big challenges, but an important question is how should we deal with them? The wrong way of dealing with a challenge is to fall into the trap of stress, selfishness and satisfaction.

It is easy as a teenager to get stressed out due to the big changes in your life, which may come as a surprise to you. In view of them, you may be occupied with yourself, which is a form of selfishness, and how the changes will impact the way you fit in. As a result of being focused on yourself, you may start satisfying some desires immediately based on wrong directions and a selfish attitude. You may even justify your actions because you are trying to get out of a problem.

This wrong direction will always lead to dangerous implications, one of them being addiction, especially to pornography.

Some challenges are harder than others. The right way to deal with all challenges is to think, thank and tame. You need first to think; that means to learn, anticipate the changes you will face, and get facts from the right sources. Secondly, you need to accept and thank the Lord for any changes happening. Finally, you must tame yourself by controlling your desires and needs to fit into the new situation you are facing.

Pornography Statistics* Every second the world is spending $3,075 on the production and publishing of pornography (about $97 billion per year).* Every second there are 28,258 individuals watching pornography (only on the Internet, not including DVDs, cable and other means).* A new pornography movie is produced every 39 minutes.* The internet contains more than 420 million pornography websites.* The total pornography web searches is 68 million everyday (25% of all search requests each day).* 35% of web downloads are related to pornography.* 72 million individuals visit pornography websites per month.* 42% of all internet users visit pornography websites.

Spiritual And Moral Dangers Of Pornography – Is It A Sin?

The Lord Jesus clearly associates pornography with adultery (Mt. 5:28). Paul indicated people at the end times will be lovers of this type of pleasure (2 Tim. 3:4), and he instructed us to stay away from it (Eph. 5:3).

We are told to “do all to the glory of God” and “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17 ESV). Instead, pornography grieves the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:30). It affects our bodies (see 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 1 Th. 4:3-4); it destroys marriages (consider 1 Cor. 7:3-6); and it supports and promotes God’s enemy (Jas. 4:4). Pornography is addictive (read 1 Cor. 6:12; Rom. 6:12), and watching it is usually done in secret because it is disgraceful (see 2 Cor. 4:2). The only conclusion we can reach is pornography is an ugly sin that any sincere Christian should strictly avoid.

Why Do People Do It?

All the children of Adam have a fallen nature, including you and me. Because of this fallen nature we have a desire for any stolen pleasure (Prov. 9:17), to satisfy our ego. As our parents did in the garden of Eden, our fallen nature likes to break the rules of God (Gen. 2–3).

The Devil is our biggest enemy, and he uses our sexual desires to control mankind (Prov. 7:22). His followers are producing pornography movies because of their love for money (1 Tim. 6:10), making it a big industry with more than $120 trillion in annual profit.

Biblical Example

We can find an example of pornography already during Noah’s time. In the story mentioned in Genesis 9:20-26 we see Ham and Canaan involved in an early form of it. In view of his reaction and the character of his descendants, it seems Ham intentionally saw his father Noah naked. Ham was amused with this to the extent that he shared the incident with his brothers. Noah cursed – prophetically – Canaan because of all the perverted sins they would commit (Lev. 18–20). Ham started with a desire to see something he was not allowed to see, then the Canaanites ended up doing all the things that should not be done. This resulted in God’s judgment.

Psychological And Social Dangers

Psychology experts warn against the many dangers of pornography. From a continuous guilt feeling to the loss of self-respect, pornography causes young and old to fail in having a healthy social relationship with the opposite sex. It gives a wrong understanding of God’s design for sexual behavior, leading instead to the destruction of marriages – existing and future ones. Prolonged watching of pornography movies will cause an inability to distinguish between the virtual world and the real world. Finally, addiction leads to escalation, which may lead to violence and criminal behavior.

What To Do?

Prevention

Satan can use pornography to wage war on any of us, and we need to be prepared for such attacks. The mind is the first battleground against any attack from the enemy. Start by writing down the huge cost of falling under this sin-trap by reviewing the impact discussed above. Remember the beautiful sense of holiness once felt and realize that watching pornography makes you a client for the Devil. Use the tools and resources you have in Christ, such as studying the Bible, praying, attending church meetings and keeping yourself in company with good believers. Guard your mind and heart – be extra strict on yourself in this spiritual exercise. Take specific and final actions to avoid temptations, such as moving your computer to a common area or sharing your phone’s password with another responsible person for the sake of accountability. Remember that God always sees you, and He might have to discipline you as a father disciplines his children.

Treatment

If you have fallen into this sin and have become addicted, you need to start by confessing this sin to God. Trust in God’s forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:9). Delete and destroy all evil materials – photos, videos and other things – that keep bringing you back to pornography. If possible, consult with a parent or a trusted adult to help you be accountable. Never use the internet in a private hidden place, and avoid friends who encourage the exchange of bad media. Stay connected with Christian friends and fill your mind, heart and time with what is spiritual, including good books, fellowship and service. Finally, trust that there is always hope in Christ.

By Shereen Ghobrial

“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Eccl. 12:1 NKJV). This is the best time to turn to the Lord and to dedicate the whole of our abilities to His service. With age, strength declines and the heart tends to harden. Old age and death are brought to mind in the allegories of verses 2-7. Ecclesiastes presents one side of the truth. Today we can add the revelation of God as Savior to that of God as Judge (v.14). The books of the Bible have been given by one Shepherd (v.11), all dictated by the same Spirit. All these words, whether they be “goads” or “nails” (v.11), should be allowed to sink into our consciences to make them sensitive to salvation. The Word of God will never weary us if we study it with prayers. It will teach us what is the whole duty of man: to fear God and to keep His commandments. All the rest is vanity – being entirely worthless. >—Jean Koechlin, Day By Day, Volume 5, Adapted