Growing up in the mountainous area of Pennsylvania, I am accustomed to seeing many of God’s beautiful creatures. Quite often, they are roaming around our yard. From the safety of our house, we have seen deer, squirrels, rabbits, possums, bears, and foxes. Each animal has distinct beauty and attributes. However, there is one creature whose beauty always amazes me whenever I see it roaming our property.
This particular animal is stunning to look at. Its fur is so luscious and beautiful. It shines so elegantly. It is the deepest color of black you could ever see. It walks proud and upright. Its beauty and grace are unmatched in the wooded area around my house. What is this stunning creature? It is a skunk.
Does that answer surprise you? Most people do not look at skunks as things of beauty. They are more known for the horrible stench they spray. Skunks are not revered or admired. They are feared. When you get sprayed by a skunk, it affects your life for days, sometimes weeks. The stench lingers for a LONG time. If you hit a skunk with a car, it will stink for ages. Sometimes, it can even get into the fabric and permanently ruin it.
So why am I telling you all this about skunks? Because I want you to see an interesting fact about men. Even though a skunk is beautiful, we all have enough common sense not to mess with it. They are smelly, destructive, and have the potential to cause great damage to us and our lives. If men are smart enough to figure this out, then why are so many men unable to avoid pornography?
“Whoa, Jamie, where did that come from?”
Well, think about it. Men look at beautiful women in pornography and gaze at their seductiveness and lust after their sexual appeal. They fantasize about these beautiful women. Yet they fail to realize that pornography is way more destructive than a skunk could ever be.
Pornography will ruin a man’s life. It is THE most addictive thing in the world. When men see a pornographic image, it releases a special chemical in their brain, which causes the memory to be etched in their minds. That is one reason it is so hard to break free of pornography.
Pornography is one of the leading causes of divorce. Many marriages are destroyed by it. Pornography causes men to look at women as objects. They lose sight of the fact that women are actual people created in the image of God, which often leads to abuse.
Porn causes men to lose touch with reality. They live in a fantasy world where the women never have needs or problems in life. They are not real women. They never grow old, and their looks never change. When they do, there is always another girl to replace them. Then, they date or are married to real women with emotional and physical problems. The men have unrealistic expectations for the women in their lives, and when they aren’t met, they eventually end up divorced.
Pornography opens the door to marital infidelity. Men who would never cheat on their wives begin to find themselves attracted to the woman at work or the clerk at the store. Before you know it, marriages are destroyed, and lives are ruined.
Pornography is such a dangerous trap, way more dangerous than a skunk could ever be. But many men take way more precautions with a skunk than they ever do with their TV or internet. In the words of the Apostle James, “Brothers, this should not be so.” (James 3:10)
Every man has the choice of how to deal with pornography. You can either play with it or take decisive action and kill it in your life.
We need to be men who begin to take pornography as seriously as it is. We must avoid it at all costs. We must take every precaution we can take.
-Use your TV V-Chip to block out sexual content from your TV.
-Use the parental controls available on all internet browsers.
-There are programs like Covenant Eyes that you can install on your computer. Not only do they keep you from being able to view porn on the internet, but they also send out email alerts to the men you choose to be accountable to, telling them what your web activity includes.
-Find men to hold you accountable. Talk about your struggles with them honestly.
Take whatever steps are necessary. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-30 that if your right hand offends you, cut it off. He wasn’t suggesting self-mutilation. He was saying we are better off getting rid of whatever causes us to sin, even if it hurts.
If porn on the internet causes you to sin, get rid of the internet. While the internet is handy, people got along for centuries without it. If it causes you to sin, it is better to lose Google temporarily than to forfeit your soul eternally.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures. Do whatever it takes to avoid pornography. If you are already entrapped in pornography, now is the time for action.
Immediately confess your sin to God.
Ask Him to forgive you for every time you were involved in pornography. Ask Him to show you the effects pornography has had on your life and your relationships.
Ask forgiveness of everyone that your pornography has affected. This will be hard, but it will help you overcome it.
Renew your mind with God’s Word. Deluge your mind with the Bible.
Find godly brothers to whom you can confess your weakness and ask them to keep you ultimately accountable.
Finally, AVOID WHATEVER YOU DID TO VIEW PORNOGRAPHY. If you viewed it on the internet, take one month off the computer.
Give up TV and movies for a month. Use this time to study God’s Word.
You are in a battle for your mind and soul. Take it seriously! Do whatever it takes.
Pornography is a deadly creature. It is time for men to stand up and realize what a danger it really is. If we can do it with skunks, let’s do it with this deadly trap of the enemy.
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. (Job 31:1, NIV)
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