porn addiction Archives - Make No Provision

Prevention

How to Overcome Porn Addiction as a Christian

by Alan Sharpe April 26, 2023

Are you struggling with porn addiction as a Christian? This article provides practical and biblical advice on how to overcome this addiction and live a life of purity.

by Alan Sharpe April 26, 2023

man with kite symbolizing Christian overcoming porn addiction

In today’s world, access to pornography is easier than ever. As a result, porn addiction has become a significant problem, even within the Christian community. If you’re struggling with a porn addiction, know that you’re not alone. Many Christians face the same battle, but there is hope. With the right tools and resources, you can overcome this addiction and live a life that is pure and pleasing to God. Here are some steps you can take to overcome porn addiction as a Christian.

Understanding Porn Addiction and Its Effects on Christians

Before you can overcome porn addiction, it’s important to understand it. Porn addiction is a physiological and psychological dependence on pornography. Over time, the brain becomes desensitized to the images, and the user requires more explicit content to achieve the same level of stimulation. This can lead to a host of negative consequences, including decreased libido, relationship problems, and even depression or anxiety.

<!-

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

man with kite symbolizing Christian overcoming porn addiction

Temptation

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

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

illustration of a wooden marionette with long nose; liar concept

Lust

The Secret to Quitting Porn? | 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

by Alan Sharpe September 3, 2022

You can be free of sexual immorality without spending a dime. Look to God alone. Seek Him as your strength, your motivation, your reason for staying sexually pure.

by Alan Sharpe September 3, 2022

Christian man seeking help for porn addiction from Bible

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Want to know the secret to quitting porn? You don’t have to join a 12-step program. You don’t have to understand the limbic survival brain. There’s no need to complete a Sexual Dependency Inventory with a sex addiction counsellor ($695). And there’s no need to go through 12 month’s of clinical counselling ($9,000).

The remedy for your compulsive use of pornography and masturbation isn’t found in a book, or in a course, or across the couch f

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Christian man seeking help for porn addiction from Bible

Don’t Look for a Label for Your Sexual Sin | Matthew 15:19-20

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

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Temptation

You Are Tempted by Porn Because You Desire It | James 1:14

by Alan Sharpe August 9, 2022

If I am still tempted by porn, then I must still desire it, at some level, to some degree. If I didn’t desire it, it couldn’t tempt me.

by Alan Sharpe August 9, 2022

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
James 1:14

One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn about pornography is that I am tempted by it because I desire it. Yes, I call porn wicked. I say I hate it. I say I want to be free of it. But the fact remains that I am tempted by pornography still. And I am tempted by it because I desire it.

I am telling you this because this knowledge is part of your path to freedom. Your enemy isn’t only outward. Your enemy isn’t just pornographic websites or immodest women or Instagram or TikTok. Your principal enemy is lust. Your lust. Your enemy is internal.

James tells you and me that “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” For you and me to be drawn away by something, we must first

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Temptation

Sexual Sin Starts Between Your Ears | John 13:2

by Alan Sharpe April 4, 2022

Sexual purity comes when you change what you believe. Or, rather, when you change who you believe.

by Alan Sharpe April 4, 2022

Sexual Sin Starts Between Your Ears

“And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.”
John 13:2

Your battle for sexual purity takes place in your mind. You may think that pornographic websites are the enemy, or that immodestly dressed women are the problem. You may even think you are an addict. But if you watch pornography habitually, if you masturbate compulsively, but long to quit, you must first realize that you don’t have a sexual problem—you have a thinking problem.

Your enemy is the devil. And the battleground is your mind. The devil puts thoughts and desires and beliefs into your mind, just as he did with Judas. Judas probably thought that betraying Jesus was his idea. But where did that idea come from in the first place? From the devil. The devil put the thought of betrayal into the heart of Judas.

In the Bible, the heart refers to

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Sexual Sin Starts Between Your Ears

Call It Porn Addiction Only if You Forsake It | Proverbs 28:13

by Alan Sharpe March 18, 2022

If you call your habitual use of pornography an addiction, you must have your reasons. But are they good reasons? Take this quiz and find out.

by Alan Sharpe March 18, 2022

Call It Porn Addiction Only if You Forsake It | Proverbs 28:13

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13

Last time I checked, “porn addiction” still wasn’t recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the book doctors use to diagnose mental disorders. Which means, if you are a Christian man who calls your habitual use of pornography an addiction, you must have your reasons. But are they good reasons? Are you justified in calling your activity an addiction, and yourself an addict? Take this little quiz and find out.

Christian Man A: I call it porn addiction for the wrong reasons

(Circle all that apply)

I want to avoid responsibility for my actions. When I call my sin an addiction, this takes the blame off me and puts it somewhere else.
I want to cast myself i
Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:
Read more

Call It Porn Addiction Only if You Forsake It | Proverbs 28:13

Obedience

You Aren’t a Porn Addict Who Needs Recovery | 1 Corinthians 15:34

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

You Are Not a Porn Addict in Recovery | 1 Corinthians 15:34

“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

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

You Are Not a Porn Addict in Recovery | 1 Corinthians 15:34

Lust

Are You a Slave Without a Master? | Titus 3:3

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

Are You a Slave Without a Master? | Titus 3:3

“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

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Are You a Slave Without a Master? | Titus 3:3

Consequences

Are You a Porn Victim? Or a Volunteer? | Ephesians 4:17-19

by Alan Sharpe January 25, 2022

Sin is always voluntary, never compulsory. No one, and no thing, forces you to look at pornography. You are never a victim. Only a volunteer.

by Alan Sharpe January 25, 2022

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
Ephesians 4:17-19 NKJV

In the battle against pornography and sexual immorality, there is no such thing as defeat—only surrender. There is never a time when temptation defeats you, or when sin defeats you, or when the devil defeats you. When you fall to porn or sexual sin, it’s not because you are overpowered. It’s because you surrender.

Sin is always voluntary, never compulsory. No one, and no thing, forces you to look at pornography. No one, and no thing, compels you to masturbate. Yes, the desire may seem irresistible, the urge may appear i

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Christian Porn Addict is an Oxymoron

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

Christian Porn Addict is an Oxymoron

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

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Christian Porn Addict is an Oxymoron

Judgment

Sexually Immoral Christians Are Deceived | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

by Alan Sharpe January 5, 2022

Some professing Christians think they can call Jesus Lord, practice sexual sin, and still inherit the kingdom of God. They are deceived. Are you?

by Alan Sharpe January 5, 2022

Sexually Immoral Christians Are Deceived | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you claim to be a Christian but engage in habitual sexual immorality, you are deceived. If you profess Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, but continue to masturbate to pornography, you are deceived. This might be the primary reason that you are failing to get victory over your sexual immorality. You are deluded about how you can be both a Christian and a habitual fornicator at the same time.

So, what are you deceived about? The Bible tells you. In The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, in the sixth chapter, Paul asks the church at Corinth a simple but searching question:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:
Read more

Sexually Immoral Christians Are Deceived | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Lust

Porn Wants You to Conform | 1 Peter 1:14

by Alan Sharpe December 8, 2021

You are in control of your evil desires. Don’t conform to them. Let them be like the old boot that is now six sizes too small for your foot. You have grown. Evil desires don’t fit you anymore.

by Alan Sharpe December 8, 2021

You have power over sexual lust. You are not addicted to pornography. Or sexual immorality. You can defeat them. But you must understand how sexual lust operates in order to conquer it.

The Apostle Peter gives you the formula in his first letter. He writes:

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
1 Peter 1:14 NIV

These evil desires are the evil lusts, evil urges, and evil, passionate longings that you faced before you were saved and that you still face after you are saved. The only difference is in what you do with these evil desires now. As you can see from this text, evil desires want you to conform to them. Evil lusts want you to mold your life around them. That’s why Peter commands you to not conform your life to your evil desires.

Victory in the Christian life comes not from having no evil desires

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Temptation

Your Porn Problem is Internal | James 1:14

by Alan Sharpe December 2, 2021

You respond to pornography because you desire it. You can’t be tempted by something you don’t desire. If you want to gain victory over your temptations, replace your desires.

by Alan Sharpe December 2, 2021

Your compulsive use of pornography is a heart issue. Sure, you live in a hyper-sexualized culture. And sure, pornography is attractive because it’s available, affordable and anonymous, and because it gives you a dopamine hit on queue. But your porn problem isn’t outside of you. You can’t blame anyone when you fall to temptation.

Likewise with the multiple remedies on the market for helping “porn addicts.” Therapy, sexual addiction clinics, 12-step recovery groups, internet porn filters, rubber bands on your wrist, accountability partners and more all have their place. These are external aids that may help you gain victory over your compulsive sexual sin. But you can’t blame anyone, or any group, or any technology, when you give in to temptation and watch pornography.

You know this, and I know this, because God’s Word is clear on the matter. You are drawn to watch pornography by an inward compulsion. That compulsion is lust. Read all about it in the New Testament book of James:

<!-- wp:quo

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Temptation

Victory Over Pornography is Always Within Reach | 1 Corinthians 10:13

by Alan Sharpe November 23, 2021

Every time you are tempted to sin sexually, God always makes the way of escape. Every time. Always. But you must grab it.

by Alan Sharpe November 23, 2021

Vidtory over porn always within reach | 1 Corinthians 10:13

Imagine for a moment that you are drowning. I am walking along the promenade and see you in the water, thrashing about and screaming for me to save you. Hanging on the sea wall is a life preserver. I remove it, unfurl the rope, and hurl the life preserver into the water beside you. You see the life preserver. But you ignore it and continue thrashing about, screaming for me to save you. I scream back at you, “Grab the life preserver!” But you decline. You refuse my help. You drown.

If you are struggling with pornography, you may feel as though you are drowning in your sin. Pornography is so all-consuming, so seemingly addictive and powerful that you have no way to resist it. Your situation appears hopeless. But do you not know that God always throws you a life preserver in the midst of your temptations? Read 1 Corinthians chapter 10:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will no

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will no
Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:
Read more

Vidtory over porn always within reach | 1 Corinthians 10:13

Temptation

Your Guaranteed Escape from Pornography | 1 Corinthians 10:13

by Alan Sharpe November 22, 2021

Every time you are tempted to look at pornography, God provides the way of escape you need in that moment. But you must take it.

by Alan Sharpe November 22, 2021

Proven Escape from Pornography. | 1 Co 10:13

You are not addicted to pornography. You may view it compulsively. It may have a destructive grip on your life. But you don’t have to view it. You are not powerless in its presence. You know this already.

First, you know that, given the right disincentive or the right incentive, you will not look at pornography. As John Piper says, “if the stakes are high enough and sure enough, you will have all the self-control you need to conquer any sexual temptation.” If a terrorist walks in while you are about to look at porn and threatens to slit your throat if you do, you will have all the self-control you need to not look. You are not addicted. Or, in the same situation, if someone walks in with a briefcase containing $1 million in exchange for you not looking at porn, you will not look. You will have self-control. You are not addicted.

Second, you know you are not addict

Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:

Read more

Proven Escape from Pornography. | 1 Co 10:13

Obedience

You Are Not a Porn Addict. You’re a Volunteer. | Romans 6:13

by Alan Sharpe November 18, 2021

You are not addicted to porn or masturbation. You offer yourself willingly to these things. Victory comes through obedience to Scripture and faith in Christ, not through therapy or a 12-step recovery program.

by Alan Sharpe November 18, 2021

Not addicted to porn, but offering.

If you are guilty of habitual sexual sin, you may call yourself an addict. You consider yourself powerless over your sex addiction, as a drug addict is powerless over heroin and an alcoholic is powerless over Jack Daniels. Pornography is your “drug of choice.” You require therapy and a 12-step recovery program. Quitting pornography means “going clean,” or “getting sober.” Looking at pornography and masturbating isn’t sin. It’s just a relapse.

But when you read the New Testament, you never find sexual sin described as a narcotic, or lusting after women called an addiction. Instead, the writers of the New Testament describe sexual immorality as voluntary, something you do with your free will. Something you can conquer through obedience and faith. Consider the letter to the Romans, chapter six, in which Paul writes:

“Do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive

“Do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive
Need a daily kick in the pants to quit porn biblically? Buy the book, or subscribe to my daily kick.

Was this post helpful? Share it now:
Read more

Not addicted to porn, but offering.