Pornography?

[SavageDamsal]

A friend of mine has been having real problems with an addiction to pornography. I've tried to tell her what I know about porn, how is a destruction of God's plan of marriage and sex but she's so deep into it, even though she wants out, she's having problems. Do you have any advice? I think the fact that she wants to give it up shows that God is working in her life but what should I tell her?  

[No Longer With Us Srsly]

Yes, we all have had demons like that. No lie, I myself was addicted to the same thing, before I found Christ. Just be patient with her, give her some space. If she wants to change, Christ will find her, and help. Just try to be a vessel through whom Christ works.
My best advice is that you should try to block out as much access as you can. That's what helped me a couple years ago. Addictions, take away the source, take away the addiction, hopefully.

Hope ev'rything gets worked out. God Bless  

[The Amazing Jabels]

You cannot really prove that porn is or is not an insult to God. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Personally, I believe it is perfectly fine, and even make use of it. I just hope I'm not wrong.  

[Ixor Firebadger]

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Porn involves lusting after the body of a complete stranger (unless, of course you happen to have naughty pictures of your spouse which is an entirely different kettle of fish, if you ask me). And according to the words of Jesus, you may as well have actually slept with the person in that image.
 

[The Amazing Jabels]

rolleyes I'm not even gonna bother. I'm not in the mood right now. These religious debates make my head hurt.  

[XXwhoknowsXX]

AndreB_92

Yes, we all have had demons like that. No lie, I myself was addicted to the same thing, before I found Christ. Just be patient with her, give her some space. If she wants to change, Christ will find her, and help. Just try to be a vessel through whom Christ works.
My best advice is that you should try to block out as much access as you can. That's what helped me a couple years ago. Addictions, take away the source, take away the addiction, hopefully.

Hope ev'rything gets worked out. God Bless

I myself was here ! Its hard but I found Christ =] she needs time

Ixor-san

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Porn involves lusting after the body of a complete stranger (unless, of course you happen to have naughty pictures of your spouse which is an entirely different kettle of fish, if you ask me). And according to the words of Jesus, you may as well have actually slept with the person in that image.

Its true and I believe that, the bible says a lot about this.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

Dude, then you're in the wrong guild. This is a discussion guild. That's what we do. This is important stuff. We're trying to lift each other up and enrich one another's spiritual lives. You might see these discussions as "debate" and utterly pointless, but I promise, this is all relevant.

At any rate, you go on "hope" when it comes to pleasing God, hoping that what you're doing is okay. You have no certainty, because you completely deny the only piece of backing evidence we have of what God wants for us: the Bible. You pick and choose which parts of the Bible suit your lifestyle better. You refuse to believe that Jesus is the only way for salvation, though the Bible explicitly says so, you completely disregard every verse that doesn't agree with you- the only reason you condone the idea of people picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to believe is because that's what you do, and you do it because you don't want to be held accountable for anything you do. You ignore the verses about lust and sexuality in the Bible, and then "hope" that looking at porn is okay, because you don't want to be held accountable for doing something sinful- in this case, watching porn. Let me just say that when it comes to the Bible and personal responsibility, you cannot do that. I'm not saying anything about your salvation, because that's strictly between you and God, but you seem to have a hard time understanding that there are some things that are sin, and the only way we know what those things are is because of the Bible. Are those parts of the Bible not true just because you choose to believe so? Is Jesus not God then, just because another person chooses to believe that those parts of the Bible are not true? It's really frustrating and a little disturbing to see how little regard you have for the Word of God as a Christian.

@Savage: try xxxchurch.org (I think that's the url). There's a link to it in the guild resources subforum,in the resources sticky. It's a very good site. You should have your friend check it out.  

[The Amazing Ryuu]

I think the major concern here is the addiction to it. I mean, we can argue over its usefulness and whether or not it's a sin until our fingers fall off, but that's really not the issue we're trying to address.

You need to get her to talk to someone who can help with the addiction, with the chemicals and the thinking process that lead her to NEED this in her life. Have her get a close friend to put up parental controls on the computer, start to wean herself away, even if it's hard. You can speak with her about what God wants for our sex lives after her mind isn't consumed with this overpowering desire.  

[The Amazing Jabels]

Fushigi na Butterfly

It's really frustrating and a little disturbing to see how little regard you have for the Word of God as a Christian.

For the millionth time, I DOUBT highly that God did HALF the stuff in the Bible.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

The Amazing Jabels

Fushigi na Butterfly

It's really frustrating and a little disturbing to see how little regard you have for the Word of God as a Christian.

For the millionth time, I DOUBT highly that God did HALF the stuff in the Bible.

Yes. No need to remind me. Which is an insult to not only God, but those who believe He did do those things. If you don't believe He sent plagues on Egypt or helped David to beat Goliath, and if that's all that's necessary to make it not so, then Jesus isn't the Son of God, He didn't die for our sins, and we are all believing a lie. Because people don't believe that, and evidently, non-belief automatically makes the Bible untrue.  

[SavageDamsal]

Thanks for all the advice guys! It was really helpful.  

[Priestley]

Ixor-san

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

The Game Of Life - Everyone's A WSinner!

Ixor-san

Porn involves lusting after the body of a complete stranger (unless, of course you happen to have naughty pictures of your spouse which is an entirely different kettle of fish, if you ask me). And according to the words of Jesus, you may as well have actually slept with the person in that image.

Well, if that's the case, no one can win because everyone lusts after the body of their future spouse. That's still adultery, even if you intend to marry that person.

If you tie what Jesus says here with what he has said about how what comes out of the mouth is evil because it comes from the heart, you're pretty much on the right track when it comes to what it means to sin, whether it's lust or cursing one's neighbour.  

[Priestley]

The Amazing Jabels

Fushigi na Butterfly

It's really frustrating and a little disturbing to see how little regard you have for the Word of God as a Christian.

For the millionth time, I DOUBT highly that God did HALF the stuff in the Bible.

I understand what you mean. While I myself don't doubt that someone who is as powerful as God is can do things that man/nature/physics deems impossible, I have seen with my own eyes man's capacity to make mistakes, exaggerate and bend the truth to suit him.  

[Edith Puthie]

The Amazing Jabels

You cannot really prove that porn is or is not an insult to God. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Personally, I believe it is perfectly fine, and even make use of it. I just hope I'm not wrong.

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" Matthew 5:28

When Christ is talking about Lusting and stuff. He says it is a sin to look at another person lustfully. Wouldnt that be looking at porn? You are looking at the women lustfully.

I've never told anyone my addiction, though I have mentioned I had one to a few people. It was an addiction to pornography. Eventhough some people dont see it, pornography can ruin relationships, even in married couples. If a partner is looking at porn, it makes the other one usually not feel right about it. Even when you are single you carry that addiction into friendships, or into a relationship that comes at you.  

[Combat Chuckles]

Pornography is a difficult addiction to deal with because you feel that you can't let anybody know you struggle with it. Being open about your sin to another Christian is a huge step towards real repentance.

Quote:

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16 (NLT)

Another thing that helps for this particular addiction is don't focus on what you shouldn't do(i.e. Dont' Look at porn, Don't be home alone with nothing to do, etc.), but instead focus on what you should be doing. Striving for purity in your life. Changing perspective can help immensely.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."