Consequences of Pornography

Counseling Session Part 3

Every month, millions of people stop what they are doing to look at erotic images and pretend they are sexually interacting with the person on display.

Think of this

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

What does this Scripture say to you?

What do you believe the message is here?

How does this apply?

Now read this.

Romans 1:18–24 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:”

What does this Scripture say to you?

What do you believe the message is here?

How does this apply?

Let us take a look at both of these.

1 John 2:16

John here describes what he means by “the world”, identifying two desires and a form of pride.

First are desires or lusts of the flesh, this refers to what the body desires.

This generally means anything craved excessively or inappropriately.

Anything from food to sexual impurity.

Second are the desires of the eyes .

In this case, it not only refers to things we literally see but what we imagine and/or put our “mental” eyes on sort of speak.

Third is the “pride of life”, meaning sinful desires which bring attention to self.

These desires and pride are not given to us by God

They are temptations from the godless world.

Look at this with context

1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

This is why a person marked by love for the world does not have the love of God in him.

1 John 2:17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

John makes the larger point that though these shallow desires pass away, the will of God and those who do it will live forever.

Romans 1:18-24

I can talk about Romans for the whole session

However, the reason I bring this Scripture up in this context is very clear

Paul was human unrighteousness as a progression

He was showing how rejecting one aspect of God leads to ever greater rejections of Him.

In spite of the fact God made His existence and basic qualities obvious through what He has made in creation, human in our sin nature refuse to see Him there.

Because we hide our eyes to the truth of Him, we do not honor and worship Him as God.

Since we have rejected Him as God, we do not give thanks to Him for all He provides.

Because we have rejected the truth that He is creator, provider, and Lord over all, we cannot come to any right conclusions about how the universe really works.

What is the result?

Our thinking becomes useless and worthless and our hearts grow dark to even the possibility of the one true God.

Still, we long to worship something and so create images made to look like people and animals

We foolishly worship these images , thinking we have become wise.

How do you think this apply to a pornography addiction?

Are we worshipping what we are seeing?

Are we creating images in our mind to escape problems we have?

Are we turning to God for the solution or to ourselves and running away?

What is the result for this thinking?

Paul describes God’s response

This involves God “stepping away’ in a sense

The idea seems to be this in my opinion

If we are willing to worship these things

Then God will allow us to live in the consequences of these decisions

This particularly applies to issues involving sex

But it also has a deeper meaning that applies to all our behaviors

You may be thinking this is not much of a punishment

On closer inspection though, we should consider the amount of human misery resulting from unchecked expression of human sexual desire, in all of its corrupted forms.

So the consequences of God steeping aside and letting us reap the natural results of our foolish choices with to sex , is impossible to overstate.

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Let us stop here and reflect on what you have read.

Look for what your goals are.

Write them down.

What are you trying to avoid?

Now what are your defenses here?

What are you trying to protect?

Also as you reflect on these verses this week, if you come up with any questions, write them down

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The Lethal effects of Pornography

The use of pornography will weaken you in three significant ways, I believe.

It creates a dependency on pornography that weaken the individual believer

It causes a disruption of the “one flesh” union that weakens your Christian marriage

It results in a distortion in thinking that weakens your ability as a Christian to relate and function

Let us examine each of these

A Dependency that weakens you as a believer of Christ

The value of personal freedom is an ongoing biblical theme.

Read Genesis 1:27-30

Adam was created under God’s authority with the freedom to choose, manage, and procreate.

Read Exodus 3-15

Israel’s slavery was an evil that God sent Moses to confront and dismantle.

Now read this

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

Jesus began His ministry by announcing He had come , among other things, to set captives free

Now read this

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Paul asserts that liberty is what God has called us to , that Christian liberty should be protected and that bondage should be avoided.

Now you might be thinking this question

What is Christian Liberty?

Christian liberty refers to the freedom that Christians have in Christ, both from the power of sin and from the obligation to follow man made rules and traditions, allowing them to freely serve God in all areas.

What does this mean?

How do you think this apply?

Well, this ethic in Christianity, places a high premium on personal freedom and condemns anything that restricts or prohibits a person from reaching his/her God given potential.

If liberty is good, it stands to reason that addiction is bad

Addiction meaning a dependence on a certain behavior or experience

There are limits to this argument though

Here is an example

Most would agree that caffeine is an addictive substance, and yet coffee drinking is not frowned upon, nor is the use of sugar which many consider a relatively addictive substance.

What distinguishes these from drugs like cocaine is the degree to which their use impairs a person’s freedom and productivity.

Someone who drinks three cups of coffee a day, for example, is different from the person with a thousand dollar a day cocaine habit.

Both of them may be, in the strictest sense, dependent on their drug of choice, and so their freedom is impaired.

The coffee drinker is not, in all cases, significantly and functionally impaired by her drug.

That person can operate their job, maintain focus and stability,and manage personal responsibilities quite well despite their habit.

The cocaine user, in contrast, is rendered largely dysfunctional by their drug.

They will resort to illegal activities to support the use of it.

They are affected by cocaine in such a way that it becomes increasingly difficult for them to sustain even the most primary human relationships.

Now it is true that both people are in bondage to some degree, but there is a huge difference in the nature of that bondage and its impact on their general abilities.

Let us examine this point.

The nature of immorality and its impact on a person’s abilities are described in Scripture as “enslaving”.

Look at this.

Proverbs 5:22 “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”

Peter describes the false promise of freedom through immorality.

2 Peter 2:18–19 “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

What is bondage to a sexual sin?

This would be a growing dependency on the sin.

Think of it like the dependency on a drug.

Often goes unrecognized because addiction to a behavior is a relatively new concept to people.

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Let us take some time to reflect on what you just read.

Look at the subject and write down your goals.

Write down what you are trying to avoid.

What are you trying to protect in your life concerning this subject?

Write down what your defenses are.

What really stood out to you concerning this subject.

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Discovery , Repetition, and Dependence

When pornography is viewed for the first time, discovered, as it were, the viewer experiences a unique rush, accompanied by a strong sexual fantasy.

The viewer is not, after all, simply enjoying the sight of another person’s body, potent as that pleasure might be.

That person is also creating an imaginary bond with the image he/she is viewing, enjoying a false but potent connection in which they orchestrate and controls the entire sexual encounter.

This person, in short, has discovered a powerful and rewarding product,

This will lead to repetition.

Why?

This person will be inclined to repeat its use until he/she no longer simply enjoys it.

Because of the fact that this person will not enjoy it until he/she will search for more stimulation, this will, in turn, create dependence.

This person will become dependent on it.

Pornography is very similar to a narcotic rush.

The use of pornography creates an exotic combination of internal stimulants which cascade through the blood stream a narcotic.

They create a sense of relief, excitement, exhilaration, or pleasure.

When these pleasurable relieving surges get grooved into association with pornography, the flesh gains control over the spirit and the problem becomes one of addiction.

It is not uncommon for pornography to elicit internal surges as addictive as cocaine.

Since addiction is the loss of self control, look at these verses

Proverbs 25:28 “He that hath no rule over his own spirit Is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

Here, Solomon notes that a person lacking self discipline is also defenseless. He is vulnerable to attacks from the enemy; especially relevant here the spiritual attacks and temptations of Satan. Self control is much like a wall against temptation. It doesn’t make the temptation go away, itself. Yet it helps a person resist until the temptation passes or is chased off.

Titus 2:11–12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”