Pornography is becoming an epidemic, not only in the world, but amongst the members of the Church. There are those who would like to think that as believers of Christ, we are immune to such things, or that we would never succumb, but the fact of the matter is, pornography addiction in the membership of the Church is steadily on the rise. The stake president of one Orem, Utah area said in stake conference: “Brothers and sisters, we are losing the war against pornography in this stake.”
People don’t usually set out to view pornography. They generally stumble upon it accidentally, either on television, the Internet, or a magazine, and at first they shy away from it. But then they have a choice. Do they look again, or do they turn and walk away, or change the channel? It’s that second reaction that determines the path they will take. Will they let their curiosity take control, and allow that curiosity to become an addiction, or will they flee from the temptation and chase away the memory whenever it resurfaces?
In the Church today, we see two types of pornography addicts—those who know it’s a sin and are doing everything they can to step out of the trap, and those who don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.
To those who are trying to overcome their addiction, good for you. You recognize that this is a terrible sin and you want to become free from it. But please know that it’s not something you can do alone. Only Christ is strong enough to break the chains of this temptation from you. If you haven’t yet sought the counsel of your bishop, you need to go in and talk to him. He can help you set up a recovery plan and he can help you work through your repentance. But it’s as you approach the Lord in absolute humility and desire to repent that you will eventually overcome this addiction. His power is the only power strong enough, and He is eagerly waiting for you to be ready for Him to lift that burden from you.
You will always be tempted to return to your old ways. The adversary knows you very well, and he knows what worked on you before. Why shouldn’t it work again? He will continue to use those wiles against you to try to lure you back into his trap. There will be days when you feel you absolutely can’t be cleansed, that you’ll always have those images in your mind. Well, for a time, you will. Your brain is the most sophisticated video camera ever invented. You will have flashes of memory of the things you have seen. But if you ignore them as soon as they surface, they will recur less and less frequently. If you starve them, they will die out. If you feed them and entertain them, you will give them life, and then they never will go away. It’s a choice only you can make.
Please join me for part two, appearing shortly here in LDS.
Related Blogs:
Blessed Are All the Pure in Heart