Do you think that what you think about yourself is important? Of course, it is…because what you think about yourself creates a mindset out of which you can be hearing truth or lies. This is especially true for those who struggle with any kind of substance or behavioral addictions.
Because we are Christians and are supposed to be followers of Christ and we live in a culture where we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that what it teaches us is true and without error. Clearly the Bible teaches us that sexual sin is forbidden and not even a hint of sexual immorality is to be found among us as we read in Ephesians 5:3;
“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Yet, the sexual sin of viewing pornography is running rampant within the body of Christ. Millions of men and women are addicted to porn and it is destroying their lives, marriages, and families. It has been THE PANDEMIC in the church for centuries. However, with the internet making porn available in the 1990s and fiber optics with larger bandwidth capable of sexual videos and even live access, now anyone almost anywhere can be watching hard-core porn in a matter of seconds.
You know this and you are probably reading this because you have had or are having a powerful problem with looking at porn, lusting after other people, and perhaps even having an affair or sex before marriage.
The world has said for years that we should go ahead and have all the immoral sex we want. That it is a good thing and can even improve your marriage. However, we are now hearing from our culture that this idea of sexual freedom and the sexual revolution has been causing tremendous damage. Things like STD’s, unwanted pregnancies, sex trafficking, child pornography, broken marriages, and damaged families are all too common. And now an entire generation, when they should be at the peak of their sexual desires are having erectile dysfunction and when it is time to “get it on” they cannot “get it up.”
This has led Christians to a life of self-loathing with an inability to stop the behavior. Shame makes us live in isolation where we remain easy prey to our flesh, our world, and demonic forces.
Here is how I felt when I was addicted to porn, involved in illicit sex and committing adultery. I hated myself. I could not even fathom how I had fallen so far from the man I should have been. I was a freaking pastor filled with shame and too afraid to tell the truth. My excuse was I did not want to hurt my wife and I certainly did not want to lose my job and career. So, I did nothing that would bring this addiction to an end and it kept growing worse.
I found some solace in the fact that I was not the only one feeling this way. I found comfort in Romans 7 where Paul writes about his battle with coveting. He was as exasperated as I was and declares to the world in these inspired words recorded for the world to read till the end of time;
“Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
That is what he thought about himself and this battle he fought against his flesh. He says these words in the present tense and says he IS a wretched man…not wretched man that he was. This battle was going on inside of him and yet he did not allow the reality of this internal battle to keep him struggling with every kind of covetous desire.
However, immediately after telling us that he saw himself as a wretched man, he says this;
“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
He struggled with lust because his flesh was still active within him. However, he learned how to be delivered from the power of his flesh through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. He learned that he needed to be filled with the Spirit and needed to daily walk in the Spirit so that he would not fulfill the desires of his flesh.
So, here is how he thought of himself;
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
After listing all of his earthly accomplishments in Philippians 3 he comes to this conclusion;
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
And in Philippians 3:13-14;
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
This is so critical for all of us in recovery. Do you think about yourself through the lenses of your sexual brokenness? Or, do you realize that you too have been crucified with Christ and the old you no longer lives, the life you are living can be by faith in the Lord Jesus?
What are you thinking about yourself? More on this tomorrow…