Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
Alright, so Steve is asking how do I quit looking at pornography? I enjoy it too much. I want to be obedient. Porn has ruined my life. I hate porn, yet I still must look at it. How do I take off the chains that Jesus broke already?
Speaker 2
Alright, Steve, I can really sympathize with what you are sharing there. And so many men, I mean, I think statistics are like 70% of all men today struggle with pornography. Maybe that’s just in the US, but I would say probably even globally it’s high as well. So this definitely is a struggle of our era where something is so easy now to just grasp a hold of that then taps into one of our more carnal, intense passions. And so it is very much a spiritual warfare. And then you’re dealing with basically drug overdose of dopamine coupled within a habit and wiring the brain. And so it makes it extremely difficult to overcome on your own. So my advice is going to be, and we’ll talk about it from the biblical perspective, which is you can’t do it alone in your own strength, you can make all the promises you can to God. Like this time I’m going to do it, this time it will be it and try to sign contracts with God, all that. But you will always fail. That was what the Israelites attempted in the Old Testament. Always they failed. And it’s that mentality that Satan will try to exploit to then make you lose hope and take you away from what the New Testament is really about.
Speaker 2
So let’s talk about what’s the New Testament, what’s the better promise we have in God, in Christ that we should get excited about? And hopefully we’ll give you hope and a way to overcome this not in your own strength, but Gods. So let’s turn to Philippians two, verse 13 and it reads for it is God who works in you to both to will and to do his good pleasure. So God is one who works in you. He is the one that is causing you to will, to have the willpower, the desire to do what’s right, to keep his laws, to overcome pornography and will help you also to do it. I mean, in some ways we are like we’re almost like a quadriplegic. We’re strapped down, we can’t do anything. We’re so helpless to overcome Satan, overcome sin. And we have to have God acted within us to give us the strength, the ability, will, power to overcome. And take this verse, Philippians 213 as a promise and two Corinthians 120, as it says, for all the promises of God, in him are yes and in Him amen. To the glory of God through us.
Speaker 2
We should have confidence that because God has promised something, he will deliver on it. So one re forces God will work in us and give us the will and ability to do what’s right, to keep his laws to do his pleasure because he’s promised it. And this actually is not even necessarily a New Testament thing. God hinted what he was going to do back in Ezekiel 36, starting at verse 24. So we’re going to the Old Testament now, and God says, For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, bring you into your own land. This here actually is a process of sanctification you’re separating a person from the world and calling you out. Just like God called out Abraham, he called him out from the nations. He does that to each of us. In verse 25, it says, then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. This is sort of that justification purification process. He’ll do so again, we can’t clean ourselves, we can’t purify ourselves, but God is going to do that.
Speaker 2
Verse 26, it says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Then I will put my spirit within you and cause you again here if it says, I will cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. So God is affirming even the Old Testament, that the secret to keeping his laws is God replacing our heart and replacing our Spirit with His Spirit to then cause us to keep his laws. And this is really the New Testament way. A lot of people think the New Testament is God has thrown out the law. But no, the New Testament is God’s going to make it easy to keep the law because he will cause us to do it if we ask Him, if we cooperate with Him and let Him do his part in it. But the journey is always going to be a tough and agonizing wood while justification, the purification process can happen instantaneously when we hand ourselves over to God and accept that, first Peter Four tells us that it’s going to be a struggle, but in that we can share it in Christ’s suffering as well.
Speaker 2
Peter writes First Peter Four one therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he has suffered in the flesh. He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his life in the flesh for the less amen, but for the will of God. Arm yourselves with the same mind as God. Pray for that. Here again, if he’s saying do it, that means you can ask for it and have certainty God will give it to you. And maybe some people, they have stories where this has happened. For them, instantaneously some people is a struggle, but that might be because you’re going to get something more out of it. This is what happened to Paul in Two Corinthians Twelve, paul is telling about his experience where he had some thorns in his flesh. He says, unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of Revelations. He said, I know so many things right and it’s so easy for me to get proud because what I know from God he says, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buff at me lest I be exalted above measure.
Speaker 2
God lets Satan attack him, bring him down, maybe cause him to sin at times so that Paul will realize he’s still human, he’s going to be grounded, helps keep him humble. Verse eight, paul continues he says, concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might be part for me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my affirmative that the power of power of Christ may rest upon me. So here Paul is saying, like in this struggle of with sin and grappling, now I am being humbled and I am realizing my dependence on God, which again points it back to what we started off with, which really is God that will cause us to keep his laws, to obey Him, to please Him. We need his willpower, his ability, all these things come from God and we have to lean on Him more and more. And so if you go through that agonizing process of resisting Satan, we’re told that he will flee from us when we resist Him, but it’s not easy.
Speaker 2
But that process, leaning on God more and more and more, getting closer to God, this is good, that can come out of it coming out with a closer relationship with God. And so, yeah, almost might feel like you’re bleeding going through this process and your mind is just, the detox is going to be tough. But you can come out with a closer walk with God and just more clarity on what his love is like and what it really means to sacrifice. And so I encourage you to. I hope these things are helpful. Again, so many of us are in the same boat and really pray that God will impress you. So I got three quick tips by way, three practical tips in addition to what we talked about. Number one, read Romans seven and eight over and over and over. Anytime you feel tempted, anytime you want to go look at the videos and pictures or whatever, replace that habit with a new habit, a better one. And I recommend Romans seven and eight because again, reading this, I think you will realize paul shared very much in your experience and he will show how he overcome.
Speaker 2
Number two, you can also like if you have lots of anxiousness, lots of energy. Transform that into exercise or some other again, productive activity where you’re taking it, you’re doing something that then can make you feel good, and you’re building a different habit that will replace it. And third, this one might surprise you, but I don’t know how you eat what you do, but try cutting out spicy food. Believe me, that can make all the difference. You’ll be shocked by just what we eat. And all these other things can affect our body and make it even harder for our mind to overcome it. So give yourself the best shot and make some new habits. Lean on God evermore to make these things happen and to give you the willpower to overcome. And we will keep you in prayer, my friend.
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In His Service
BibleAsk Team
