Overcome Porn: The 40 Day ChallengeSample

Just as sure as pornography stirs up lustful cravings in us, the Holy Spirit is a source of new, holy cravings. Exploring the Bible, we can “reverse engineer” the bad training pornography has given us and replace it with God’s thoughts about sex:

1. Porn promises gratification but only decreases our sexual satisfaction. God designed marriage for sexual satisfaction. For single men and women, it means surrendering to God’s providence and timing. For married men and women, it means returning again and again to the enjoyment of sex in marriage and not to porn (Prov. 5:18-19; Song. 7:11-13).
2. Porn disconnects us from real relationships, training us to believe that the best sex is solo sex. But God has defined good sex as an expression of “oneness” (Gen. 2:24). For married and single people alike, this means seeing one’s body not as his or her own, but as something to give as a gift to another (1 Cor. 7:4).
3. Porn lowers our view of women. But God created women in His image, and as such, women are worthy of great honor. For the man, this means not letting his eyes lead his heart astray, but instead making a covenant with his eyes to never look upon a girl with lust (Job 31:1). For the woman, this means refusing to see her own worth through the disingenuous lens of porn standards. Instead, she finds value in being fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14) and in the truth that her inner beauty is unfading.
4. Porn desensitizes us to and eroticizes cruelty. But God has designed sex as an expression of affection, not aggression (Eph. 5:28-30). 
5. Porn hooks us deeply, leading to possible addiction and sexual bondage.  Porn becomes our master when we believe porn’s lie that sex is a “need.” If sex is not a need, but rather a good desire, then we can set it alongside other good desires and go to the Word to understand its place (Gal. 5:1).

Reflection

• How do you think you’re doing at “keeping in step with the Spirit”?
• Consider memorizing one of the verses from today’s devotional and rewire your mind to think about sex like God does.