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“You
have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery. But I tell you
anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with
her in his heart." Matthew 5:27,28
Pornography has snuck into our homes like Satan did with Eve in the Garden
of Eden, tempting even the purest of heart. Some people have never thought
about looking at porn before they had a computer, but now it somehow repeatedly
gets in their view, and oops it happens.
There are a few really bad apples out there that revel and delight in
tossing immoral imagery into our faces. Whether we read about these lusty
desires in our Spam email or see it on popup banners, we’ve all come face to
face with it through our computer. Most of us don’t think twice about deleting
porn from our email and in fact, we try to get popup blocker to stop the
harassing banner ads.
Since porn is tossed out recklessly everyday in front of our face,
eventually someone is going to click on it.
It might be your husband, your wife, or your teenage son. The bad apples are overjoyed! They work for Satan. Satan tells them sneaky
and conniving ways how to do it, and make it more enticing. The bad apples
comply because they want everyone to be depraved like them.
The problem begins when a person is tempted into viewing this garbage and
they do not apply any moral ethics they might have on a godly foundation. The
worldview of what morality is in grave error. If you base your belief system on
something that is sinful, you will become in bondage to that particular sin.
That is how Satan gets people involved in his work. They serve him by being a
slave to sin.
Because porn repeatedly shows up on our computer in one form or another, we
eventually give into it out of curiosity and say, “But one time won't hurt".
In reality, folks, it does hurt. It hurts yourself and your loved ones
tremendously.
“You
have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery. But I tell you
anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with
her in his heart." Matthew 5:27,28
Lust is an unhealthy and sinful desire that takes a person away from that
which is right and good. It does not matter if it is lusting after strangers on
the Internet or a fleshly body in a secret place. To yearn for the flesh of
another person other than who you are married is wrong thinking
taking over your mind and eliminating the natural goodness that resides in
man.
Satan knows that by getting you to think and envision the lusty images in
your mind first will entice you to desire it. Once you take a peek, you look
again, and again, until you can’t seem to get the immoral imagery away from
your mind, and you become ensnared within it. If you think long enough, you
become what you think. God says we are not to even THINK about these things in
our mind.
“Do not lust in your
heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the
prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your
very life". Proverbs 25, 26
You are worth more than a loaf of bread, aren’t you? If you continue in your
wrong thinking, you will turn moldy, and then no one will want you.
If the act of adultery is wrong, then so is the intention.
It is considered mental adultery and thus a sin! To be faithful to your
spouse with your body, but not your mind is to break the trust that is so vital
to marriage. Pornography is easily justified in the minds of those who view it.
They have broken a code of ethics to validate in their minds that it is okay to
view it. Pornography for many is more justified than the physical act and if
they get caught looking at it, all they have to say is, "well, at least
I didn't have an affair."
This kind of thinking is wrong and is in total denial. Denial is the
opposite of acceptance. If you can't accept that what your doing is wrong then
you are in denial. The Internet only enables those who are tempted to continue
in their addiction. Satan instructs the bad apples to get smarter and
smarter in their different ways to put it out to the world. That means you have
to fight back harder to eliminate sexual immorality from your life.
“It is God's will that
you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of
you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God." 1Thessalonians 4, 3-5
Viewing Pornography and getting off on a temporary rush is only a symptom of
a much greater problem. Lusting after the flesh of heathen strangers is bad
enough, but this lustful desire also defiles the body, mind, soul, and
marriage. In my book, it is the same as having a physical affair.
How can I stop looking at
pornography?
The power to rid yourself of temptation and to remain faithful comes from
what you believe. Therefore it does not rest in you alone but in your
Creator. If you have been unfaithful it is because you do not have the foggiest
idea how to utilize the tools (gifts) God has given you.
Loyalty to ones spouse is a part of the giving process that
you learn through allowing God's love and forgiveness into your heart and mind.
When you accept what the Truth is, you can actually give
of yourself and do it freely. It's really that simple. Accepting
is on the same line as humbling oneself. If you humble
yourself to God, the one and only true director, you are giving
yourself to God. Once you actually release your errors to God, He will
rid you of temptation.
For those of you with a conscience, I say don’t kick yourself too hard. You
made a mistake and looked at porn. Pick yourself right back up and start all
over anew. I say the same thing for those who have had an affair. Just because
you were weak once does not mean, you are a weak person. You are what you
believe to be true. Your potential is much greater than you allow.
God will give you the power to cease and desist all tempting situations in your
life, and become the person you were intended to be. But you have to accept and
believe in God as you source.
God hasn’t condemned you yet. It is not too late to turn your life around
and come to your full potential. Let go of Satan’s hand and take a hold of
Christ’s hand. Don’t condemn yourself!
If God is your source, and he is, that is where you came from, why do you
look to the world (Satan) for reassurance of self? If the world is where you
look for truth, you will believe what the world says, and probably be weak in
your sin again. As with any addiction we are powerless to defeat it on our own.
When we fall into weakness, essentially, we’re like a confused lost puppy
unable to find our way home. We do not have a map to help us search for the
lost treasure. We’re probably not even sure why we are unfaithful and some of
us remain in weakness. We have decided that society is our home, and society
tells us that unfaithfulness is acceptable. Which, on the opposite end is
what God says is not acceptable. As I said earlier, when you accept what you
see in the world as truth, you tempt yourself into adultery and immorality of
all kinds, which is not truth, but a devilish lie told by Satan.
It is God's will that all marriages be built upon the rock of loyalty and
when you remain steadfast and loyal to your spouse, even through the hardships,
you are allowing God to give you the understanding you need to remain faithful.
By trusting in what God says for your marriage, you are less tempted to stray
from the marriage, whether in the physical act or through pornography.
Therefore, you must stop looking to society for the answers. Faith
comes from believing in what you cannot see with your eyes, bringing those
beliefs into the heart and acting upon them with passion. Having and
utilizing the power of faith is an individual matter that is gained by your own
personal relationship with God. Make God you source!
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Angie Lewis is the author of three marriage books offering marriage tips and wisdom filled answers tackling such issues as addiction, adultery, pornography, emotions, feelings, children, forgiveness, communication, and spiritual influence in the home.
To preview these books visit - http://www.lulu.com/AngieLewis/
For more information about Angie's marriage ministry visit - http://www.heavenministries.com/
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