The Problem

Why is it that so many professing Christians struggle with pornography? How is it that those who have been transformed by the power of God still find themselves entangled by a sin so destructive to themselves and so grievous to God? The answer to those questions abound, however at this point I would like to address one concern that I believe is causing many to fall prey to the sin of pornography.

I am convinced that one of the reasons why many find themselves ensnared by the sin of pornography is because of the lack of accountability in their own life. Because of our sin, we are driven by pride. This pride shows itself in a variety of creative ways, one in which is to convince us that we are strong enough in ourselves to withstand anything life throws our way.

To make matters worse, our fallen world, figuratively speaking throws gasoline on our already burning house, by encouraging us to be ambitious individuals, who rather than serving alongside a community of like-minded people, are encouraged to, “pull ourselves up by our own boot-straps.” In other words, the world, the flesh and the devil would have us to believe that we can successfully fight the good fight our faith on our own, without the help of anyone else. Rather than being needy and dependent on the help of others, we are taught to be private individuals.

The tragedy in all this is that our privacy on a horizontal level is consistently applied to our vertical relationship with God.There are countless Christians who are drowning in the sea of sexual sin and rather than cry out for help they have convinced themselves that they “got this”.

In all my years as a follower of Christ, I have come to learn that the devil loves to keep God’s people isolated. The evil one is not called “the deceiver of the brothers” for no reason. He loves when struggling Christians find themselves far from the protection of the body of Christ.

The slithering serpent is crafty in all his ways and like a lion that roars to claim dominion over his territory, he has convinced many Christians to live in fear rather than to live by faith.

Confess your sin to God

What does living by faith look like when we talk about fighting sexual sin? On a practical level, fighting sexual sin by faith simply means throwing up you’re arms before the Lord and telling Him that you cant fight on your own any longer. Tell the Lord that you have been filled with pride. Tell the Lord that you are desperate for His help and that you are no longer content with living in spiritual adultery. Tell the Lord that you are sorry for grieving His Holy Spirit, and by faith run away from anything that would cause you to come near even a hint of sexual sin. Like Joseph running away from Potiphar’s wife, leaving his jacket behind, so you to must run away from the snares of the evil one, leaving the passions of lust behind you. In short, confess your sin to God and run for your life.

Confess your sin to others

After confessing your sin to God you need to confess your sin to others. Unfortunately, not everyone in the church can be trusted with certain information. The reality of the matter is that not everyone in Christ is as mature as they should be to handle sensitive information, so although you need to confess your sin to other Christians, in wisdom you shouldn’t confess your sin to any Christian. Pray that the Lord gives you wisdom on who you can confide in. Ask Him to give you someone of the same gender that you can go to for help in this area. If your married, you should confess your sin to your spouse. If you are single you should confess your sin to your parents or a trusted friend.

Take Heed

If you are going to successfully overcome sexual sin you must do war. You must kill your pride. You must come to the end of yourself and confess your dependence on God and your dependence on others. Not taking heed to these truths and suggestions could very well cost you everything. Even your soul.