Celebrate Recovery Archives - Make No Provision

10 Lies You Tell Yourself (and Believe) When You View Porn

by Alan Sharpe November 5, 2022

I sinned sexually, repeatedly, because I lied to myself. I lied so often that I eventually believed my lies.

by Alan Sharpe November 5, 2022

illustration of a wooden marionette with long nose; liar concept

I viewed porn for the first time when I was 11 years old and for the last time when I was 61. That’s 50 years of sinning against God, 30 of them as a Christian. I sinned repeatedly because I lied to myself. I lied so often that I eventually believed my lies. But that all changed on November 4, 2021, when I purposed before God to never look at anything wicked ever again, and to never masturbate ever again. Here I am, 366 days later, living what I purposed back then. I have a year of victory under my belt (excuse the metaphor) partly because I no longer believe those lies I told myself. Here they are. See if you tell any of them to yourself.

Lie #1: God Doesn’t See
When I view pornographic images and videos, I tell myself that God doesn’t see. I sin in secret. But God does see.

Lie #2: It’s Not Adultery
Jesus says that I commit adultery when I look at a woman to lust after her. But I lie to myself. “I don’t commit adultery unless I do the physical act,” I assure myself. But I am

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Prevention

75 Biblical Ways to Resist Sexual Temptation

by Alan Sharpe October 13, 2022

If you want to resist unwanted sexual urges and overcome sexual temptation, here are 75 ways from the Bible (including the Bible) to overcome sexual temptation.

by Alan Sharpe October 13, 2022

If you are a Christian and if you are even remotely healthy, you face sexual temptation on occasion. If you want to resist these urges so that you do not fall into sin, here are some biblical ways to overcome sexual temptation (including the Bible).

1. Count the Cost
Sexual sin comes at a price, in this life and in the next. For one thing, adulterers and the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21). That’s the eternal cost—your soul, punished forever, in the lake of fire. But there’s also a price to pay in this life if you give in to sexual temptation. Think sexually transmitted diseases. Unwanted pregnancy. Divorce. Loss of custody of your kids. Getting fired. Scandal. Loss of your testimony. Jail time. Your name on the Sexual Offender Registry.

2. Clea

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Consequences
Quit Porn in Three Words | John 5:14

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by Alan Sharpe August 17, 2022

Jesus doesn’t expect you to continue looking at porn any more than He expected the healed man from the Pool of Bethesda to continue in his sin.

by Alan Sharpe August 17, 2022

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
John 5:14

One of the reasons I left Celebrate Recovery is that I never faced consequences for my sexual sin. Brothers like me, caught up in the sin of habitual porn use, would attend the meetings week after week, being pure one week, falling into sin the next, but nothing ever happened. Actually, something happened. We received a “First Time Attender” blue chip each time we reset our sobriety clock to one day of sobriety. This was not the biblical model for dealing with a brother who was living in sexual sin, so I left.

What I never heard at Celebrate Recovery meetings were those simple words of Jesus: “Sin no more.” Jesus said them to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:11), and he said them to the ma
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Accountability
Don’t Look for a Label for Your Sexual Sin | Matthew 15:19-20

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by Alan Sharpe August 11, 2022

The remedy for habitual porn use is not external, but internal. The cure is not secular, but spiritual.

by Alan Sharpe August 11, 2022

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
Matthew 15:19-20

Are you a porn addict because Celebrate Recovery says so? Are you a process addict because the World Health Organization says so? Do you suffer from a hypersexual disorder? Are you a sex addict?

No, no, no, and no.

If you are a Christian man who struggles with looking at pornography, don’t try to find a label for your sin. Don’t look to the world, or Christian psychology, or Christian counselling, or Christian support groups, for a diagnosis for your sin. Don’t look for a diagnostic label that requires medication, therapy, counselling, weekly attendance at recovery meetings, working your way through 12 steps, or a
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Prevention
Want to Quit Porn and Masturbation? Say “No.” | Titus 2:11-12

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by Alan Sharpe April 8, 2022

The biblical remedy for porn, masturbation and sexual immorality isn’t complicated. It can be summed up in one word.

by Alan Sharpe April 8, 2022

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
Titus 2:11-12 NIV

Want to know the secret to quitting porn? Quit porn. Want to know the secret to not masturbating? Don’t masturbate. I realize that this sounds like simplistic advice, because it is. The guaranteed way to quit sexual immorality is to quit sexual immorality. That’s what the Bible says.

How do you quit porn? Say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. How do you quit masturbation? Say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. That’s the formula, that’s the proven method, that’s the biblical remedy. It’s not complicated.

Celebrate Recovery, Sexaholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs complicate this issue of forsaking sexual sin. <a href="https://www.celebraterecovery.co
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Accountability
Don’t Call Your Sexual Sin a Shortcoming | Isaiah 5:20

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by Alan Sharpe March 31, 2022

The longer you remain in the world of euphemism and abstraction, the longer you remain in your sin. Biblical victory over sin requires a biblical vocabulary.

by Alan Sharpe March 31, 2022

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!“
Isaiah 5:20

I began getting victory over the sexual sin in my life when I started calling it what it is. When I stopped using the vocabulary of sexual addiction, when I abandoned the euphemisms of 12-step recovery programs, I gained clarity. I saw my sin the way God sees it. I understood the penalty that awaits me if I don’t repent. And I finally understood the biblical steps I had to take to attain, and maintain, sexual purity—and why.

The closer you draw to God’s Word, the closer you get to understanding His revealed will. Once you start describing your sin the way God describes it, you start thinking in biblical terms about your sanctification. Coming to terms with your sexual immorality requires you to come to terms with what God says on the subject. The longer you remain in the world of euphemi
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Obedience
You Aren’t a Porn Addict Who Needs Recovery | 1 Corinthians 15:34

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by Alan Sharpe March 11, 2022

Watching pornography isn’t an addiction you recover from. Masturbation isn’t a compulsive habit you need treatment for. Both are wicked sins that you are to stop doing. Now. Not eventually.

by Alan Sharpe March 11, 2022

“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”
1 Corinthians 15:34

If you discover that a brother in your congregation has a habit of sneaking out of the house at night and murdering people, should you encourage him to get into a 12-step recovery program so that he can overcome his childhood trauma and gradually wean himself off his bad habit?

What about theft? If you learn that a brother in the Lord has a compulsion to pick pockets on the metro, should you encourage him to attend Celebrate Recovery meetings month after month until he finally gains victory over his addiction?

What about lying? If your Christian colleague repeatedly lies to his boss, lies to you and lies to your bank, should you invite him to join Christian Liars Anonymous and to take their 90-Day Truth Detox as many times as needed until he eventually sto
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Lust
Are You a Slave Without a Master? | Titus 3:3

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by Alan Sharpe March 3, 2022

No one bought you in a slave market. No one owns you. No one commands you to sin sexually.

by Alan Sharpe March 3, 2022

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”
Titus 3:3

Do you consider yourself powerless over pornography? Do you look at your masturbation habit and consider it a compulsive behavior that you are unable to manage? Do you, in short, believe that you are a slave to sexual immorality? If you believe these things about yourself, then you believe the first lie of the Celebrate Recovery 12 Steps: “We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Celebrate Recovery bills itself as a “Christ-centered, 12 step recovery program for anyone struggling with hurt, pain or addiction of any kind.” The movement is filled with sincere Christian leaders who mean
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Judgment
Why You Can’t Pray and Masturbate at the Same Time | Romans 1:28-29

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by Alan Sharpe February 4, 2022

Habitual masturbation to porn is one symptom of a heart hardened towards God, of a mind that no longer likes to retain a knowledge of God.

by Alan Sharpe February 4, 2022

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers.” Romans 1:28-29

When God gives up on an individual, He gives them over to sexual immorality. Habitual sexual sin is one symptom of a heart hardened towards God, of a mind that no longer likes to retain a knowledge of God. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).

If you are a Christian man who habitually masturbates to pornography, and if you desire to quit, reverse-engineer this text to uncover the cause of your bondage—and the remedy. Don’t look to your childhood. Don’t listen to Celebrate Recovery and
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Accountability
I Quit Porn After Taking God’s Word Personally | Proverbs 6:23-24

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by Alan Sharpe January 17, 2022

When Samuel penned this proverb to his boy, he didn’t write about The Bible or sexual sin in the abstract. That’s made all the difference to me.

by Alan Sharpe January 17, 2022

“For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress.” Proverbs 6:23-24 NKJV

I tried multiple remedies as a Christian man for my sinful habit of watching pornography. I talked with my pastor (1996). I participated in a men’s study group at my church based on the book, Every Man’s Battle (2006). I installed Covenant Eyes on all my devices (2007). I got an accountability partner (2010). I attended weekly Celebrate Recovery meetings (2018-19). I confessed my sin to God and asked for forgiveness (1991-2021).

These actions worked with varying levels of success over the space of 30 years—none of them permanent. What finally worked was sitting down each day and reading God’s Word to discover what it had to say about pornography, adultery, lust, sexual temptation and sexual immoralit
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Accountability
Christian Porn Addict is an Oxymoron

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by Alan Sharpe January 11, 2022

The longer you view yourself as a porn addict who needs treatment and recovery, the longer you will take to gain lasting victory over your sexual immorality.

by Alan Sharpe January 11, 2022

If you are a Christian man who uses pornography habitually or compulsively, you are a sinner, a voluntary slave to sin—but not a porn addict. The longer you view yourself as a victim, and the longer you think of yourself as an addict who needs treatment, recovery and hand-holding, the longer you will take to repent of your sin and conquer pornography.

“Christian porn addict” is an oxymoron. The phrase ranks right up there with exact estimate, working vacation, same difference, civil war, genuine imitation, unbiased opinion and government savings plan. If you watch, read or listen to pornography habitually, God calls you an adulterer, a fornicator, void of understanding, deceived, and wicked—but never an addict.

Here are the top reasons you should stop calling yourself a Christian porn addict.

1. Porn addiction doesn’t exist

According to The American Psychological Association (APA), “Addiction
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