Pornography
Pornography is a sin that men and women deal with. Men have a greater tendency to get involved in pornography than women do, but I have known a few women that had a problem with it. Pornography is not a little bunny that you can pet whenever you want. It is a beast and if you don’t realize that you’re in serious trouble. I along with many of my friends and many of you have dealt with this in our lives or are dealing with it. If you are the fortunate one and haven’t gotten involved KEEP IT THAT WAY!!! Pornography drug my mind and thoughts places they should not go. It’s so addictive. Once you start it’s hard to stop. Even when you get into church and receive the Holy Ghost its hard to stop. I wish that I could say what I want to in words but I can’t.
IT NEVER GOES AWAY! I have talked to people and can relate that the images don’t go away they pop up even after you have stopped. Pornography has led many men to cheat on their wives, has caused many divorces, and has ruined many families. PLEASE STOP! If you are a young person please stop while your young. PLEASE! Save yourself the pain and hurt. It may bring you pleasure but it also brings pain, turmoil, heartache, distress, and much more. It’s not worth it.
Here are 3 stories from people like you and me who were changed by pornography.
When I was 8 years old my father made me look at pictures that showed girls doing sexual things to men in books. I went along with him, not knowing any better. He continued to rape me and use me for 4 years while using these books. Now at 16, I have found that I have a serious STD that has no cure. I have been with no one but my father. What will I tell my husband someday? I may die from this disease. Pornography has ruined my life. Teenager.
I am 13 years old. You could say that I am an average teenager, except for one fact. I am a victim of pornography. When I was very small, my real Dad sexually abused me while he was watching a pornographic video. I lost my innocence to my real Dad when he chose to use me for his own self-fulfilling needs. The things he did to me happened while he watched pornography. What did I do to deserve this? I go through times of depression, confusion, anorexia, and guilt. My Mom says that it was not my fault, but still, I wonder – wasn’t I good enough or perfect enough. I am finding that there are many others like me. People say there is no harm to pornography. I say they are wrong. Mississippi Teenager
Keith’s Story:
First of all let me start off by saying, I gave my life to Christ when I was 14 years old. I grew up in a household with an abusive father. He was not physically abusive, just emotionally and verbally abusive. I lived as normal of a life as I could, the typical teenager over at a friend’s house and finds a porn movie or magazine. You and your friends start to giggle and hope not to get caught. This is my earliest recollection of porn.
The enemy (Satan) picks his moments very carefully. I joined the US Army right from high school. It was an escape from my father. I was stationed as far away from Ohio without leaving the continental United States, Washington State. I was not on base for more than 2 days when I started getting the thoughts of loneliness. So I went to the local convenience store on base and picked up a couple of pornographic magazines. For some strange reason, I did not feel lonely any more. This was Satan planting the first of many lies.
As my time grew longer in Washington State, I started to make friends and the loneliness went away. My buddies all had porn movies and magazines and it was no big deal. In the back of mind, I knew it was wrong. I started to rent movies on my own, about once a week. I was hooked. No girlfriend or acquaintance could fill my desire. It was not a need, it was a want/desire. I would go long periods without renting porn or purchasing magazines but always went back to the habit. Then it was time for me to come back to Ohio.
I have been back in Cincinnati for 8 years now. Six of those years I have had Internet access. This only threw gas on the fire. Porn was easily accessed and if you knew where to look, it was free. I thought when I got married the porn would stop. Well, it stopped for only a few months. I thought when I had my first child it would stop, again for a few more months. With my second child, same thing. My anger only increased. I snapped at everything that moved. I started to exercise my faith and get involved more at church. I repented for my sins and started to feel better, but kept coming back to the same habit. My addiction was affecting my worship. I chose this point to use the word “addiction” because it was so hard for me to come to grips with it. It took me 6 years to realize I had a problem. I went to a church service earlier this year (2003) and heard a sermon on sexual purity. God convicted my heart and told me that it was time for me to listen to him instead of him listening to me. Satan planted many lies in my head like, “No one will ever know”, “It’s not hurting anyone”, “What makes you think God will listen to you”, and finally “Go ahead, you can ask for forgiveness when you are done”. The last lie put me over the edge and I told my wife for the first time I had an Internet porn addiction.
I sought out professional counseling with a local Christian counselor (member of the Christian Counselors Association). Over the next few months, my life changed dramatically. I learned through a process lead by the Holy Spirit, that anger and pornography had been in my family for many generations.
Hopefully, this affected you in a positive way.
If you want to quit maybe this will help you.
- You have to want to Quit.
- Don’t place yourself in any situation where you are able to indulge in it.
- Find an elder or someone older or of the same age that(of the same sex) has gone through this problem. Someone that you can trust not to say anything and that is sincere and will help.
- Get the person to check up on you whenever they see you or by phone calls. You have to be honest. This is accountability. It helps wonders.
- Pray and fast for God to help relieve you of the desire of pornography during all these steps
