A Godly Approach to Overcoming Pornography
Porn habits/addictions can be hard to shake, but I believe that God holds the keys to freedom. These concepts from the Bible have been helpful for me in my journey to overcome porn.
1. Acknowledge the Problem
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
—1 John 1:9
God promises to cleanse us from our shortcomings if we just confess them. Acknowledging the sin of pornography is the first step toward freedom.
I remember a moment in my life when I realized that I was seeking out porn even though I didn’t want to be. I think that was a pivotal moment where I confessed to myself that it was a problem. I also confessed to a handful of close friends, but I honestly think I would have benefitting from confessing it to even more people. There’s power in exposing the darkness.
2. Take Radical Steps
"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."
—Matthew 5:29
Jesus taught radical action against sin, which shows how important it is to get rid of anything that leads to temptation.
This has honestly been so helpful in my own journey of overcoming porn. Here are some of the radical steps that helped me:
Deleted apps that made it easy to stumble into sexual content.
Restricted apps & websites that have triggering content. (This can be done through your phone’s settings)
Installed a porn blocker called Covenant Eyes* which takes pictures of my screen and notifies accountability partners of concerning activity.
“Tearing out” these kinds of things made it a lot less likely for me to end up in front of sexually-charged content.
3. Get Accountability
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
—James 5:16
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."
—Proverbs 27:17
Jesus’s primary method of interacting with the world today is through the church, which He describes as His own body. So if you want Jesus’s help in overcoming porn, what you need is the church’s help. God’s plan is for us to live in community. He designed us to be a collective unit who all support each other in our struggles. Battling porn is so much more doable with teammates than it is on your own.
In my own experience, getting accountability was a game-changer. And I’m not talking about meeting once a month with a buddy who is also falling to porn as much as you are. The accountability that helped me the most was when I committed to telling my girlfriend (now wife) whenever I failed in this area. That really upped the stakes for me. It truly devastated her every time I failed. That really showed me first-hand how toxic and destructive porn really is. That was such an effective motivator.
4. Renew Your Mind
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
—Romans 12:2
A renewed mind is a renewed person. The way we renew our minds is by hearing God’s Word and allowing it to replace our destructive habits and thoughts. Renewing your mind is absolutely crucial to becoming one with God. Jesus taught that after a demon is cast out, the empty space then needs to be filled with God’s spirit. You can’t just quit porn but not have anything else to fill its place.
One of the reasons I started this website was to give me something productive to do in place of porn. Instead of wasting my life engaging in a destructive habit, I wanted to use my gifts to do something productive. Getting out of bed and filling my life with things that glorify God has really helped me break free from porn.
5. Rely on God’s Strength
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
—Galatians 5:16
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
—Philippians 4:13
Overcoming sin is impossible without God’s help. Dependence on the Holy Spirit is key to breaking the chains of addiction.
In recent years God has allowed me to experience freedom from porn. Looking back, it really feels like He’s the one responsible for my freedom. I am honestly not very strong at resisting it on my own. God kind of restructured my life by blessing me with a wife and stepson who give me reasons to leave porn in the past.
Conclusion
I wish getting rid of porn was as quick and easy as reading a web article, but I battled it for years and years with many failures. I’m so glad God has allowed me to experience freedom from it these past couple years, and I know He wants to set you free too. Freedom is possible. Keep fighting the battle—it’s a worthy one.
*Note: Covenant Eyes gives me a small credit whenever someone signs up through one of the links on this page.
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