tip 20 don’t give in to easy in this sin. You risk eternal Hell. But if you think I’m not yet dead time enough to change. Dont fool yourself, because you never know what time you die. Maybe this hour! So be prepared and stop!
Think about the punishment Jesus did for you! He died. You shoud die because you’re are watching or thinking the wrong stuff! Because you sin!
So when you are tempted or feel urges, think, do i want to give in and die for this short time “relief”. There can only be one answer on that and thats No, never!
Hello abiq, thank you for this topic. I will follow closely your posts in this topic, as they are very interesting and helpful.
I also wanted to thank you for your suggestion about “Setting Captives Free”. I started a 30 day program. Hopefully this will help me get rid of this sin once and for all.
Porn is Satanic. Why do I say that? Because the world of porn is infested with lies. Porn needs lies and myths to keep going. And Jesus said about Satan, “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan’s empire is propped up by lies upon lies, with new lies covering up old lies.
No surprise, then, that porn promises much but delivers less—and not just less but, in fact, the opposite of what it promises. And by now aren’t we all fed up with being manipulated? Advertisers lie to us. Politicians lie to us. Porn lies to us. This world breaks our hearts. But Jesus has come, and his kingdom heals our hearts. So let’s be defiant. Let’s get free of every lie, by God’s grace, starting with the fraudulence that pornography is.
Myth #1: Porn will satisfy you. It will even turbocharge your sexuality.
Maybe. For a short while. At an animalian level. But the bitter aftertaste is inevitable. “Satan presents the bait, but he hides the hook,” to quote the Puritan, Thomas Brooks.
Why does porn always get us spiraling down into shame and regret? Because God created us in his image, for his glory. And his exalted purposes for us include all that we are—yes, even our sexuality. So whenever we use his gift of sexuality for a lesser purpose, especially an ugly and predatory purpose, what can we do but end up disappointed and exhausted, feeling wasted? It’s not as though we might figure out smarter ways to use porn, so that it actually pays off. No. Porn is simply proving to us what it always is. Porn is poison—with no warning label. There is a reason the Bible warns us, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23). So let’s flip it, and find our sins out, and sin against our sins, those wretched losers! Let’s start living again!
Myth #2: Porn is common, even normal. So what’s the fuss?
In a way, this myth is true. Porn is common. Indeed, porn is the wallpaper of our culture. Maybe common isn’t even a strong enough word. We need a stronger word like pervasive. Sexualized images keep showing up here, there and everywhere. So, is porn common? For sure. But does that make it normal?
Here is something we must understand about this world we live in. The world is the way it is for the very purpose of making the abnormal feel normal. This is a world where we call evil good and good evil, where we put darkness for light and light for darkness, where we put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isa. 5:20). And if enough people go along with it, it does start feeling normal. We redefine reality, to support our desires. Which is crazy. And it doesn’t matter if the whole human race joins in the game. Numbers don’t define truth. God does (Rom. 3:4).
Porn is not only not normal; it isn’t even human. And it sure isn’t magnificent. But God created us to be nothing less than magnificent. Why would we ever settle for something so weird, bizarre and creepy as porn? When we give it access to our souls, it shapes us way down deep. But if we’ll accept from God the honesty that sees reality as it is, he will help us run from porn back to himself. He loves to redignify sinners who are fed up with their crazy.
Myth #3: Porn isn’t hurting anyone. It’s an innocent distraction in your stressful life. You deserve a break today.
Two thoughts about this myth. One, it’s more than a myth. It’s a blatant lie. The truth is, wherever porn goes, trafficking goes, coercion goes, degradation goes, human miseries and unspeakable sufferings go. Porn is the modern slave trade.
Racialized slavery was legal in America, until the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Looking back now on that national disgrace, we see three human profiles among the Christians. One: active participants. Some Christians traded in slaves. We today grieve over them and wonder what on earth they were thinking. Two: passive onlookers. These Christians didn’t participate. They just shrugged their shoulders and mumbled, “Well, these things happen.” We look back on them and wonder why they didn’t stand up for what’s right. Three: active liberators. These Christians opposed slavery and worked and prayed and stuck their necks out to set people free. And we today rejoice over them and thank God for them.
Okay then. How will later generations look back on us? Are we today liberating people from this engine of injustice called the porn industry? We today can starve this wretched beast. We today can set men and women free. But will we? And if our answer is no, then let’s have the honesty to admit that we approve of the slave traders of the past. We’re on their side. Let’s admit it. But let’s not go there at all! Now is our God-given moment in history to stand up as living proof that Jesus is a Liberator—and we too are liberators, for his sake!
Two, we were made for more than easy, lazy escapism. When we do get tired and worn and stressed-out, then getting some rest is a good idea—obviously. But let’s always remember that we were made for soldiering on with rugged endurance. Y’all, we Christians eat hardship for lunch! The Bible has recruited us for this bold privilege: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3). He is why we’re glad to keep going and keep going and keep going. We’re on his side, the winning side! We’ll have time enough and energy enough for the big party after the final victory is forever won. In the meantime, let’s never feel sorry for ourselves, as if living hard for Jesus is something to slink away from. No way! He loves us, and he’s all-in. We love him, and we’re all-in. What a privilege!
Myth #4: Porn has no deep or lasting impact. You can stop at any time. You’re in control.
The myth says, “You can even budget your porn use. Hold back during those times when you need to be at your best for Christ or for your family or whatever. But then, after you’ve been good for a while, you can jump back in—no problem.” Really? Sin is that easy, and our freedom is that negotiable?
Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). And if there is any area of our lives where we experience the painful grip of this slavery, it’s in our sexuality. Why? Because God created our sexuality to be a magnetic power between a husband and a wife, bringing them together again and again. Sex is meant to be, in God’s goodness and wisdom, an experience of personal abandon and ongoing vulnerability. But when we offer up our sexual powers to any sinful purpose, we discover that our losing control in the wrong way creates degrading slavery where God intended captivating attraction. What God designed for deep belonging curves in on ourselves as compulsive, self-injuring isolation.
Myth #5: Anyway, doesn’t God want you to be happy and just live your life?
God is a morally serious person. He remakes us into morally serious people. This ridiculous notion—“Doesn’t God just want us all to be happy?”—how can we respect that, much less worship the One who, we are told, taught it to us? This myth doesn’t require much debunking. All we have to do is look at the Cross and see him there, suffering for our sins, including the sin of trivializing God and ourselves with glib and shallow slogans like this.
I began this post by saying that porn is a Satanic pack of lies. I’ll end on a different note. You are an image of the living God, created for his glorious purpose (Gen. 1:26-28). You aren’t stuck with porn. The One who made you can recreate you as a person standing tall, walking in integrity, lifting others up. Why repeat this past year? Your gracious Savior is offering you freedom in this new year. Why not go for it?
The Death of Porn by Ray Ortlund is a series of personal letters written to men assaulted by the porn industry. Every man can experience his true royalty—not through self-help, but by believing the gospel. Pastor Ortlund paints the picture of a whole generation redefining their future with new dignity and confident purpose.
tip 24 read through the whole Bible in a year! You spend your free time well and closs to the lord. You get a lot of help for your batlle out of it and you grow.
As stated in the song read your bible pray everyday if you want to grow!
So grow and become mature and not a baby anymore in faith!
I love this plan https://www.oneyearbibleblog.com/ it only cost you less then 15 minuts everyday! And everyday you read the OT, NT, proverbs (interesting life lessons) and psalms (you read this book twice, but this book is great to pray with)!
The unfailing love of Jesus is unspeakably glorious, sacred, and precious—especially right after sexual sin because our sexuality is so delicate and personal and our consciences are especially tender in this area of sin. So we are so grieved that the steep letdown after a visit to a ■■■■ site—after the short gratification—is so injuring and grievous. I believe that in that very moment of shame and sorrow after sexual sin, that is when the heart of Christ moves toward us with the most tenderness and understanding and desire to help.
The Bible is so clear. In Isaiah 11:8–9, it is the very holiness of God that moves him so powerfully to be tender toward sinful people. How many of us believe that about God? It’s in the Bible. We’ve got to believe that. We can believe that. We have, in Christ, every right to dare to believe that.
So when—not if—when you and I sin at some sexual level, Jesus himself invites us closer to his heart. For example, in John 8, when the woman is caught in the very act of adultery, of course, we all wonder, Where was the guy? How did he get let off the hook? The hypocrisy was blatant. Everything was against her and she was surrounded by accusers. Jesus flipped it and sent them on their way and drew her into himself and gave her her life back right then and there.
The unfailing love of Jesus is unspeakably glorious, sacred, and precious.
He did not say, “I don’t condemn you.” He said, “Neither do I condemn you.” In other words, I’m now speaking on behalf of this whole social environment around you. There is now surrounding you a non-condemning, supportive social environment defined by me, declared by me, and I hereby pronounce you non-condemned. Now, go and sin no more, get your life back, live again.
Years ago, a man was hunting deer in the Tehama Wildlife Area of Northern California. As he climbed through a rocky gorge, he lifted his head to look over a ledge and saw something move next to his face. Before he knew it, a rattlesnake struck, just missing him. The strike was so close, however, that the snake’s fangs became snagged in the neck of his sweater. As the snake coiled around the man’s neck, he grabbed it just behind its head. A mixture of hissing and rattling filled his ear as he felt warm venom run down his neck. He tried to dislodge the fangs from his sweater but fell backward and slid down the embankment. Using his rifle, he untangled the fangs, freeing the snake to strike repeatedly at his face. The man later explained, “I had to choke him to death. It was the only way out.”1
When you face temptation, you enter a battle even more dangerous than having a rattler striking at your face. The Scriptures liken Satan to a closely crouching snake or lion who is provoking passions within us that war against our souls. We must choke temptation to death—it is the only way out. What follows are four ways to fight when temptation strikes.
As the dark hour of temptation fell upon Jesus’s disciples, he told them twice to “pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40, 46). He knew the pressure they were about to face, and so he reminded them, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).
If Jesus told his disciples to pray before temptation comes, how much more do we need to pray once it arrives? When temptation calls, you must pray. You need divine intervention to deliver you from the venom of the tempter. You do not need elaborate prayers, just desperate prayers delivered in faith. The Scriptures provide an abundance of examples:
Prayer lifts our eyes off of sin’s disorienting offer and places it on Jesus. Through prayer we “resist the devil” and “draw near to God” (James. 4:7–8). Through it we confess our desire to sin and plead for help to resist it. We ask God to give us strength to choke out the temptation so that sin cannot strike us. When you are tempted, pray to God. He is the one who helps us and will keep us from falling.
Joseph was handsome, and his master’s wife couldn’t help but notice. As lust burned in her heart, she offered him an opportunity for a secret affair. But Joseph resisted. He was loyal to his master and, beyond that, said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Yet her advances continued “day after day” until she finally cornered him alone. She seized him by his garment and said, “Lie with me.” Rather than entertain her offer, “he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house” (Gen. 39:6–12).
Joseph ran because he had no other option. He knew he was too weak to resist temptation as long as he was alone with his master’s wife. So he choked the temptation—not by staying and fighting, but by fleeing. We must do the same. When temptation corners you, don’t flirt with it—flee from it.
Sin wants to convince you that one more click in the search engine or one more minute on the couch or one more round of inappropriate conversation is manageable. But entertained temptation is like kryptonite to our sinful flesh. The longer we let it linger, the weaker our resolve becomes.
This is why Paul told Timothy to “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Tim. 2:22). Do whatever is necessary to get away from what is tempting you. Close the computer. Delete the app. Turn off the phone. Run outside. Get in the car and drive. Do whatever you need to do to flee the voice of temptation.
Emily felt overwhelmed by temptation’s onslaught. Being alone in her house for the weekend offered so many ways to sin. But rather than fight alone, she called a sister from church. She explained how weak she felt and asked for help. Her friend told her to pack a bag and stay with her for the weekend. Emily agreed and, with her friend’s help, avoided Satan’s snare.
You cannot fight sin by yourself. God commands us to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). Sin assures us that asking for help is weak, shameful, and unnecessary. But this is just one more lie from Satan, who is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Sin cannot live in the light.
When temptation strikes, reach out to a friend and plead for help. Do not make excuses. Send a text or email, or make a call immediately. Tell your friend that you need help. Say something like, “Would you pray for me? I’m feeling weak toward temptation, and I need your help.”
Sin cannot live in the light. Drag the temptation into the light of fellowship and enlist others for help. If the person you called doesn’t take you seriously, plead more urgently or call someone else. Don’t give in to discouragement. Keep fighting, but don’t fight alone.
When I was young, my father and I often took walks in the woods near our house, which were known to be inhabited by poisonous snakes. During our first walk, he taught me an important lesson: when you come to a fallen tree on the path, step on it, and then step over it. He explained that snakes often rest under trees, so if we stepped right over a tree, we might startle the snake and get bitten. But if we stepped on the tree and then over it, we’d create enough distance to evade the strike of most snakes. Today I can’t walk along a path in the woods without remembering this lesson.
Avoiding a snake’s strike once is good. Developing a pattern to avoid these strikes forever is better. We cannot, of course, keep the tempter from tempting, but we must develop a plan not to go near his den (Prov. 5:8). Over the years, I have developed an intentional plan to “make no provision for the flesh” in order to guard my walk with Jesus (Rom. 13:14).
Jesus exhorted us to “cut off” whatever might lead us to sin against God (Matt. 5:28–30). I have set up numerous barbwire-like protections to make acting out sinful desires difficult. I encourage you to grab a friend and develop a similar strategy. The following questions might help you get started.
How are you cultivating hope and delight in Jesus?
What joy-stealing sins are you most prone to give in to?
If Satan were to tempt you, how might he do it?
If you were going to access sin, how would you find it?
How can you dumb down your electronic devices to make sinning in certain ways an impossibility?
Are there subscriptions you need to cancel? Phone numbers you need to delete?
Are there accountability subscriptions you should set up?
When are you most susceptible to temptation? How can you prepare for these times?
What passages of Scripture have you memorized or marked to quickly access in times of temptation?
What lies are you most prone to believe, and what passages of Scripture can you fight them with?
Whom are you regularly confessing your sins to? Whom can you call when you are feeling tempted?
No Regrets
God rarely touches our lives in such a way that we stop loving sin immediately. But as we fight sin and pursue him, he changes our affections. We begin to love what he loves and hate what he hates. Our confidence in willpower fades, and our hope focuses on Jesus, who was tempted and yet resisted in all the ways we have not (Heb. 4:15).
As you begin to fight afresh for joy in God, remember that sin steals your joy. You will never regret resisting sin. You will always regret giving in. Choke temptation by taking refuge in Jesus and the means of grace he provides: pray to God, flee the scene, call a friend, develop a plan.
