You will never overcome your porn addiction until you grasp these four simple concepts. I struggled with porn addiction and masturbation for years. It infected my system at a very young age and was a constant thorn in my side up through my late teens. There came a point in my life, not too long ago, when I realized I desperately needed to change, so I did. It wasn’t easy but once I was able to become proficient in these 4 simple steps I became victorious in my battle with porn and masturbation. I am positive they will benefit you as well.
1. Do not Destine Yourself for Defeat
Or in other words stay away from tempting situations as best you can. That is much easier to do in theory than to live out. I was most vulnerable when I was home alone and had a computer in front of me. I decided to change that either by not being home alone or if I had to be home alone I was doing something else besides mindlessly surfing the internet or watching racy shows that would often end with me watching porn. When I didn’t have to be home, I would go hangout with my friends, go outside for a walk, or go fishing. Honestly, I would do anything to fill that time other than staring at naked women on a computer screen. I had to shut down some of my social media accounts because of the availability of porn on the platform. I had to stop listening to certain radio stations and particular songs because they tended to stir up lustful thoughts that would consume my mind the rest of the day until I found “relief” in porn or masturbation. Drastic steps had to be taken in order for me to overcome my a pornography addiction. In the end, they were totally worth it.
2. Self-discipline
Now this is what you didn’t want to hear. To overcome the addiction you are actually going to have to put in the work and become self-disciplined. It will not be possible to always stay away from temptation. Your favorite show might have a scene where a woman is unclothed. You will have to force yourself to look away. The first glance isn’t the sin. You cannot foretell that a Victoria Secret commercial will be coming on next but you do have the power and responsibility to look away and keep looking away once it comes on. The same goes for when you are at the beach and you see an attractive female in a size to small bikini. You can’t help that she walks into your view. You can help from staring at her. That’s why you have to train in the art of self-discipline. I call it an art because it takes time to develop. You won’t always succeed but over time you will become victorious more times than not, if you stick with it.
3. Prayer time/Bible study
That’s right the church answer we were all expecting. But it’s the truth, you’re going to need God to help you through this addiction, at least I did. I actually decided to read through the entire bible, which I had never done before. This opened my eyes up to so many amazing things in the word of God that I had no clue were in there and I grew up in church. As I read my bible, prayed more and out loud my prayers began to become “deeper” or less self-centered and more focused on Gods will and plan for my life and the others around me. I noticed I could “hear” God’s voice much more clearly. It was not an audible voice by any means. It was more like a gut feeling or a knowing that I should do something a certain way. Now, let me stop you before you think way too highly of me. I would literally read my bible 15 minutes a day tops and I spent even less time praying. But the whole point of this point is to show that i created a new habit of reading my bible and praying to replace my old habit of looking at porn and masturbating.
4. Accountability partner(s)
At first this was absolutely terrifying. My heart about exploded out of my chest the first time I told anyone about my addiction. Once I started sharing my struggles with trusted friends I began to realize I was not alone in this fight because I was now seeing other men of all ages struggled with this addiction and I had more people praying for me once I told them. It relates back up to step number one, having an accountability partner gave me a place or a person to talk to when I felt the temptation was getting to be too much. An accountability partner can be anyone, but I would advise you to tell a trusted older Christian friend of the same sex. Simply because they are more likely to understand the struggle you are experiencing. Eventually, you should come clean to everyone. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a T-shirt that says “I was addicted to porn but Jesus set me free.” But you should tell the people that are closest to you and get the weight of the shame off of you. This is probably the biggest contributing factor to my success. Not because of what I did or said but the fact that I had a couple of guys praying for me, sending me material on how to overcome porn addiction, and they just wanted to hangout and experience life together.
There you have it. The four simple practical steps I took that helped me come out victorious in my battle with porn and masturbation. Honestly, this is a moment by moment battle we all face on a daily basis. There are days when I feel invincible and think I could never fall to the temptation ever again. There are also days when I wake up with the looming temptation whispering, no more like screaming, in my ears and I manage to make it through the day without falling back on the addiction, by the Grace of God. Just remember you are not alone in this fight.