4 WAYS TO

OVERCOME
PORNOGRAPHY
ADDICTION
www.sharethesstruggle.org
 PORN IS A VISCIOUS
CYCLE
Loneliness leads us to porn… and porn leaves us lonely.

Wanting to feel good attracts us to porn... and porn keeps us

from feeling good about ourselves.

Boredom, disappointment and anger drive us to porn... and porn

bores, disappoints and angers us.

It’s the definition of a vicious cycle.

We can’t get enough of it and we can’t get rid of it. We love it

though we hate it and we hate it that we love it. We find
ourselves swept round and round in a whirlwind of conflicting
and contradictory desires.

How did we get swept up into this vortex?

Hurricanes form when certain conditions are met. They form

consistently over equatorial oceans. It is there that warmth and
moisture rise and twist; slowly at first but with ever increasing
intensity.
Hurricanes form when certain conditions are met. They form
consistently over equatorial oceans. It is there that warmth and
moisture rise and twist; slowly at first but with ever-increasing
intensity.
Hurricanes grow and build. They are essentially great natural
engines, creating and feeding upon their own fuel until they collide
with a landmass that deprives them of the conditions that created
them.
Similarly, we have deep natural needs for human attachment,
sexual fulfillment, physical pleasure, and emotional intimacy. When
those needs are not met or we are deprived of them, a hungry
energy develops.
Images substitute for intimacy. Unmet needs pursue unsatisfying
solutions which only exacerbates the need; giving rise to a
powerful rotating inertia. It doesn’t matter that sexual satisfaction
reduces with the frequency of porn use. We can’t help ourselves.
We simply are compelled to cycle, to spin…
Our sexuality is central to our humanity. One of the very first
ways the Bible describes human beings is as “male and female”.
One of the very first ramifications of the fall was a recognition
that Adam and Eve were naked and ashamed
It’s no surprise that sexual struggles are so very hard to overcome.
They arise from the most intimate and complicated parts of our
humanity.
Add in the sensory appeal and the emotional/chemical elements
involved in pornography and it’s really easy to say, along with the
Apostle Paul; "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot
carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not
want is what I keep on doing.”
 4 WAYS
If we are going to have any real hope of seeing this
maelstrom dissipate, we are going to need to
engage some of the conditions that created it.

Those conditions may be biological, psychological,

or social and all of them are anchored in the
spiritual. Here are some things you can do to deal
with them.
1) ACKNOWLEDGE THAT
THERE ARE ISSUES
Acknowledge that there are issues which are powering your
porn problem. It is only peripherally about the images, it’s
primarily about something inner. Find out what those issues
are for you and begin to engage with them.

What God wants for you is freedom. To have control and

power over yourself; to not be driven and tossed about by
your passions.
He communicates that clearly when He says “I want you to be
able to control your own body in honor, not in unchecked
passions that hurt yourselves and each other.”

He’s not some cosmic kill-joy. He’s on your side; for your
happiness and well-being and, yes, for your greatest pleasure!
2)LIMIT YOUR ACCESS
Limit your access by installing blockers, setting up
accountability, setting limits on device usage, etc. Doing this by
itself will, by no means, ensure success. You can find ways
around blockers, avoid accountability and push limits. But it is
imperative that you do what you can to minimize artificial sexual
stimulation.

When you do this, the real issues rise to the surface and you
can deal with them more effectively.

Yeah, that may mean that it may seem like it will get worse
before it gets better, but that’s one of the ways the Kingdom of
God works. It’s this upside down, backwards and beautiful realm
where the way to be greatest is to be least, the way to lead is to
serve… and the way out of your struggle is actually through it!
 3) ELEVATE THE
QUALITY OF YOUR REAL
WORLD RELATIONSHIPS
Actual human connections, if they involve mutual
vulnerability and trust, will touch the underlying issues
driving your porn use. Physical touch, if it is genuine
and non-sexual will let off some of the pressure. A 20-
second hug can work wonders!

Oh, and news-flash here, your relationship with God is

a “real-world relationship”. Being fully known, fully
seen and fully loved is powerful.
 4)GET HELP
Get help from someone who is not watching porn. These people
are like the landmass that a hurricane runs into. They are the
objective, immovable, fixed place over which your whirling,
spinning, cycles begin to disperse. They might be a professional
counselor, a volunteer mentor of a personal friend, but one
thing needs to be true of them. They need to understand where
you are but they need to not be there themselves.

Here are a few resources we recommend you check out in

seeking out help!

The Freedom Fight

Conquer Series

XXX Church
 CONCLUSION
You are not at the mercy of your cycles.

You are not alone in this

You were created for real intimacy and connection

You are not sentenced to a life of endless spinning.

You have a future of freedom and connection!

Author: Jay Cline