Question
I have a problem in my life of watching pornography, I try my best to avoid it but unfortunately after some time, it can be like a period of 2 weeks, then I do it again. I need Christ in my life and I don’t want to miss Heaven because I understood the truth and I left all other things but now only that is what is still troubling me.
Answer
The one thing you must know about God, is that He loves you much more than you can imagine. And the fact that you sin, does not change that at all. He knows that we are sinners, and His greatest wish is that each one of us would give Him our life, no matter how messed up, and trust Him to change it. God hears every one of your prayers, but sometimes we are our own worst enemies, and get in God’s way while He is trying to help.
There are people that say that they are addicted, trapped and can never escape their addiction, and that God will have to forgive them in their sin. But God saves us from our sins, not in them, and He says that we should be transformed, born again, changed. For that to happen, you must make a decision that you want to fully surrender to God, no more half measures, only total submission to His will. It must be a choice to leave all sin completely behind, and to rely completely on God to transform you. As sinful human beings, we cannot change ourselves, so we have to give it to God to make the changes.
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
How are we transformed? By dying to self.
John 12:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ (in a relationship with Christ), he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
1 Corinthians 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Titus 3 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Ezek 36 25 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. 26 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. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Philippians 2: 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
One thing is certain, very few people have the strength and will power in them to kick an addiction as strong as pornography, so how does one do it practically? By handing it over to God, as we have no power in us to change ourselves.
If you want to be transformed, freed from any and all addictions, you have to die daily to self, which means that you have to turn your entire life over to Him, daily, hourly, every second if we must. He then works in and through you to wipe out the addiction. This statement is not just a theory, but a proven fact. Start every day by saying to God: “Lord, I have no good thing in me, so I hand over to you my mind, my life, my time, my money, everything. Live in me today, and work in me to transform me. Lead me every step of the way through the temptations that lie ahead, and change me this day more and more into your image”. And He does! It may take some time, and you may fall again, but turn it over to Him again, and He will do what is necessary. Often you will have to say: “Lord, forgive my thoughts, take control of my mind, and lead me where you want me to go, because if my thoughts follow their normal way, we both know where it will end!”
Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling (sinning), and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy …
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Nobody need be an addict to anything, for God is able to do everything that is needed to transform us! But you have to hand your addiction to Him completely, and trust that He will sort it out. And remember, God wants to save you, He wants to forgive you, but most of all He wants to change you into His image, as He designed you to be. Don’t give up on God, He is able to do so much more than you think! Stay as close to God as possible, and get to know Him very well. And as you look to Him, the addiction will disappear, as He works in your life.
I trust that this makes sense to you. God bless!