About Make No Provision

Make No Provision is the daily email devotional for Christian men who want to conquer porn biblically. I’m the author, Alan Sharpe, a Christian husband, father and lay preacher who knows that victory over sexual sin requires devotion to Christ plus daily action. The name of the blog comes from the command in Romans 13:14 to “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

I looked at pornography for the first time at age 11 and got serious about not looking at age 61. Just writing that sentence fills me with renewed shame and deep regret. After all, I looked at porn for 20 years as an unbeliever, 30 years as a believer, 26 years as a single man, and 24 years as a married man. That’s 50 years of my life wasted, some of them as a boy, some as a young man, but almost half of them as a married, Christian man, preacher, husband and father. “Hypocrite” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

After struggling with pornography for three decades as a believer, getting victory but then falling, over and over, I finally started conquering this sexual sin in 2021. I discovered that, for me, living a life free of porn requires four things:

1. Porn-Blocking & Accountability Software: I have Covenant Eyes installed on all my devices. It blocks pornographic websites, monitors where I go and what I do online, and sends a daily report of my internet activity to my accountability partner, complete with screenshots of anything pornographic I have looked at. Ouch.
2. Accountability: I didn’t get serious about quitting porn until I confessed my sin to someone I trusted and then made that person my accountability partner. They receive a daily email that flags anything inappropriate that I do online. I share my struggles and victories with this trustworthy ally, and we discuss strategies for staying sexually pure.
3. Honesty (Preferably Brutal): Your results may vary, but my experience with small-group Bible studies and 12-step Christian recovery groups is that they involve too much hand-holding, endless sharing, few role models who are living in victory, and a non-biblical, addiction-centered recovery model. They don’t have any in-your-face challenges to repent. What I need is someone to confront me to my face about sexual sin, to hold my feet to the fire about sexual immorality, and to show me regularly and in forceful ways the holy standard that God sets for my walk—and the consequences I face if I fail to repent. I don’t need to sit in a circle of awkward men and have someone offer me a box of tissues. I don’t need to hear each week that I’m a powerless addict who suffered a spiritual wound as a child and who uses porn today to self-medicate. Why not? Because what I need isn’t recovery—it’s repentance. Looking at porn is sin. Period. When I lust after a woman, I commit adultery with her. What I need is a daily, biblical kick in the pants because the remedy I seek has already been published. It is summed up in six simple words: “Make no provision for the flesh.”
4. Biblical Application No Matter the Cost: Lasting victory for me started with radical obedience. I began studying the Bible to see what it says about sexual lust, sexual temptation, adultery, and sexual immorality—then I started obeying what I learned. I ditched my smartphone, for example. I deleted my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. I blocked TikTok, Snapchat, Tumblr and Reddit. I blocked YouTube. I blocked Vimeo. I blocked Amazon Prime Videos. Only by obeying the clear commands of Scripture to flee fornication and make no provision for the flesh—regardless of difficulty, inconvenience or cost to me—do I stay sexually pure day by day.

I write this daily blog to keep me on the path of sexual purity. I also publish my thoughts to inspire my fellow Christian brothers to gain and maintain victory in this area. Pornography is a cancer in the church. It wrecks lives, marriages and families, and the careers of church leaders. My prayer is that these daily meditations educate, encourage, challenge and inspire Christian men to defeat pornography daily, biblically. Want to join me on this journey? Subscribe today.