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Question: How can I stop looking at things that I shouldn't be looking at? Also staring at those things that I shouldn't? I ask God for strength but I keep failing.
Reply: That is one of most common questions anymore. We live in a society where people like Britney Spears and obviously a good deal of other entertainers glorify the sensual nature by exploiting it. Men and women are bombarded from every media source, especially the internet. I recall when porn was illegal on the internet. In 1992 a professor at a college served time for having posted pornography. Now, despite the requirements to place a hedge against the access of minors, the internet is a proliferation of gratuitous sex of all kinds. The age of innocence has ended for children and teenages due largely to the internet. The resources to fully corrupt an adult and keep them there is infinite.
I work with the internet daily and have helped more than one male block their access using the advisor settings in Internet Explorer. Tools > Internet Options > Content tab > Content Advisor > Enable > Limited setting. I point to this source first because it is usually the main place a man keeps his appetite fed today. If a person continues to review sexual exploitations on the TV or computer, they will remain in bondage to the lust of the flesh. That exposure has to be removed by any means necessary.
Much like the habit of smoking, once the root of the habit grows deep, it is incredibly difficult to uproot. It can be triumphed over, if a person wants liberty from the chains of the flesh in the power of the Holy Spirit. I speak from experience having been subdued by habits such as smoking and pornography in my pre-conversion days. Smoking was easier to quit nearly 23 years ago because it was a physical item that could be externally avoided. But lust is fully within the body, it can preoccupy the mind and the passions. One can't just walk away from it because it is physical stimuli that is inspired by a sensual thought life.
Your questions reveal that you are at the point of realizing you are struggling against something you don't want and also reveals that you know there is a better way for your thought life. Please understand up front that it took longer than fifteen minutes to find yourself in a situation, it will certainly take longer to realize the victory. God could choose to reach down and scoop those desires from you as he did myself regarding certain areas of my life when first saved. But I have found that once a soul becomes intimate with the Spirit of Christ but later entice sins to crawl off the cross, those pet sins will become strongholds which will require God's supernatural power to overcome. Much like lifting weights to build strength, resisting the appetites of the body by trusting in the power of Christ builds internal spiritual fortitude. It is not a lack of faith to understand one must become mentally proactive in the fight against the flesh. Some might say if you have genuine faith, it will be instantly gone. Sure, if you are willing to be the recipient of a miracle! Miracles do happen at times but it is not always the case. Many have tried to believe away their physical maladies after reading godless fiction works like "The Secret" and found no relief, no magic, no genie... only ever present ongoing struggle.
It's impossible in a few paragraphs to assist anyone properly in this change. It is difficult and does require time and committment. God thru Paul admonishes His people to "remain innocent to what is evil and be wise to what is good" (Romans 16:19). Once we taste the lures of the flesh, you will be daunted by those desires the rest of your days. The victory won is not to give into temptation, but the desire will never be fully abated. At some point you have to start saying "no" and live it. When you are in public and see a desirable form and feel the desires rising, turn your eyes away, for the temptation of mind enters through the gates of the eyes. Protect what enters your eyes by turning away as did Joseph fleeing Potiphar's wife. Do not stand and stare as David did at Bathsheba, it ruined his life AND his family from that one fed passion! Do not feed the desire, starve it and replace it with time in the Word of God and genuine prayers of repentence. You will indeed fight and lament, but you will grow stronger as you consistently seek to overcome, trusting in the power of God through Christ Jesus. God does give us a way of escape from all temptation, we only have to look for it and do it!
Finally, the best book I have read on the subject is "Seven Snares of the Enemy" Break Free from the Devils Grip by Erwin W. Lutzer, senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. Order it now for around $2 (Click Here) and do not hesitate to devour it once you receive it. It has done more to assist people than any other source I know of.
Reply: That is one of most common questions anymore. We live in a society where people like Britney Spears and obviously a good deal of other entertainers glorify the sensual nature by exploiting it. Men and women are bombarded from every media source, especially the internet. I recall when porn was illegal on the internet. In 1992 a professor at a college served time for having posted pornography. Now, despite the requirements to place a hedge against the access of minors, the internet is a proliferation of gratuitous sex of all kinds. The age of innocence has ended for children and teenages due largely to the internet. The resources to fully corrupt an adult and keep them there is infinite.
I work with the internet daily and have helped more than one male block their access using the advisor settings in Internet Explorer. Tools > Internet Options > Content tab > Content Advisor > Enable > Limited setting. I point to this source first because it is usually the main place a man keeps his appetite fed today. If a person continues to review sexual exploitations on the TV or computer, they will remain in bondage to the lust of the flesh. That exposure has to be removed by any means necessary.
Much like the habit of smoking, once the root of the habit grows deep, it is incredibly difficult to uproot. It can be triumphed over, if a person wants liberty from the chains of the flesh in the power of the Holy Spirit. I speak from experience having been subdued by habits such as smoking and pornography in my pre-conversion days. Smoking was easier to quit nearly 23 years ago because it was a physical item that could be externally avoided. But lust is fully within the body, it can preoccupy the mind and the passions. One can't just walk away from it because it is physical stimuli that is inspired by a sensual thought life.
Your questions reveal that you are at the point of realizing you are struggling against something you don't want and also reveals that you know there is a better way for your thought life. Please understand up front that it took longer than fifteen minutes to find yourself in a situation, it will certainly take longer to realize the victory. God could choose to reach down and scoop those desires from you as he did myself regarding certain areas of my life when first saved. But I have found that once a soul becomes intimate with the Spirit of Christ but later entice sins to crawl off the cross, those pet sins will become strongholds which will require God's supernatural power to overcome. Much like lifting weights to build strength, resisting the appetites of the body by trusting in the power of Christ builds internal spiritual fortitude. It is not a lack of faith to understand one must become mentally proactive in the fight against the flesh. Some might say if you have genuine faith, it will be instantly gone. Sure, if you are willing to be the recipient of a miracle! Miracles do happen at times but it is not always the case. Many have tried to believe away their physical maladies after reading godless fiction works like "The Secret" and found no relief, no magic, no genie... only ever present ongoing struggle.
It's impossible in a few paragraphs to assist anyone properly in this change. It is difficult and does require time and committment. God thru Paul admonishes His people to "remain innocent to what is evil and be wise to what is good" (Romans 16:19). Once we taste the lures of the flesh, you will be daunted by those desires the rest of your days. The victory won is not to give into temptation, but the desire will never be fully abated. At some point you have to start saying "no" and live it. When you are in public and see a desirable form and feel the desires rising, turn your eyes away, for the temptation of mind enters through the gates of the eyes. Protect what enters your eyes by turning away as did Joseph fleeing Potiphar's wife. Do not stand and stare as David did at Bathsheba, it ruined his life AND his family from that one fed passion! Do not feed the desire, starve it and replace it with time in the Word of God and genuine prayers of repentence. You will indeed fight and lament, but you will grow stronger as you consistently seek to overcome, trusting in the power of God through Christ Jesus. God does give us a way of escape from all temptation, we only have to look for it and do it!
Finally, the best book I have read on the subject is "Seven Snares of the Enemy" Break Free from the Devils Grip by Erwin W. Lutzer, senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. Order it now for around $2 (Click Here) and do not hesitate to devour it once you receive it. It has done more to assist people than any other source I know of.
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