Overcoming Porn Means Changing the Way You Think
. . .
Renewing Your Mind
Renewing Your Mind
“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2
No matter how many filters you have on your computer or accountability partners you may have in your life, there’s always a way to get around them. You need something more sure to fight the battle against pornography.
While external precautions are good and necessary, we need to recognize that a renewed heart is the best safeguard we can possibly have. When the desire is lost, the sin we desire will not be an issue.
How then may we obtain that renewed heart?
It comes to us by God’s redeeming grace. God is our sure deliverer, and He alone can change our hearts.
That being said, the Lord instructs us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The work of God comes by means of our dutiful action. He transforms us as we renew our minds.
Thus, we must do our due diligence in changing the way we think, trusting that the Lord will manifest His grace inwardly.
For instance, someone may have a run away fantasy life. He or she may indulge his/her thoughts in pictures on screens or pictures created in his/her mind. How does one find deliverance from such things?
It comes through the renewal of the mind. Up to this point those images have not been real human beings. They have been comparable to a fast car or a video game. They were merely instruments of pleasure that he/she used. They were slaves serving his/her selfishness.
Renewing your mind in this case means thinking about the opposite sex in a much more holy and dignified way. One person became much less likely to fantasize when he began thinking about the girls he saw as “people in need of God’s grace.”
To be sure, he needed God’s grace too. But his change of mind made him think of their need, and not his own. Instead lusting after their bodies, he felt compassion for their souls. They were no longer his objects of personal pleasure. They were dignified creatures who needed the gospel.
Since they were now real people (needy people at that!), this fellow lost the urge to click on the usual sites. What’s more, when he saw someone pretty, he didn’t just turn his eyes away as a means of fighting an urge. He confessed that he was actually able to look at the people he passed by with a pure heart.
In sum, he sought to renew his mind by changing the way he thought. And that brought about a radical transformation in his life.
A good way to begin down the path to transformation is to take a few minutes to create a "lust prevention list." In what ways are your thoughts askew? Write down what your current thoughts are. Then create another list. This column should be devoted to the new thoughts you should have.
For example, you may write down something like this: I find sexual fulfillment in my screen slaves. Perhaps you've never thought about your phone and your porn use this way, but it is true. That's exactly what your subconsciously think.
In the second column, you should write the following types of things:
1) I will no longer own sex slaves; Satan is the one who puts people in bondage and I will not be a servant of Satan.
2) I will no longer use and abuse women in this way.
3) I will honor my wife (or future wife) above my own felt needs.
4) I will not dishonor this woman on my screen, contribute to her defiling, or disrespect her father/husband.
Take some time to pray and ask the Lord to add to the list too. While you are at it, confess the sinfulness of the first list (see the first article in this series) and ask the Lord to erase such thoughts from your mind.
Finally, make a point to actively think the thoughts of your new list. Be diligent at it so that it becomes your default mentality. As you do this, you will find that God’s grace will be breaking down habits that you may have thought impossible to destroy before.
No matter how many filters you have on your computer or accountability partners you may have in your life, there’s always a way to get around them. You need something more sure to fight the battle against pornography.
While external precautions are good and necessary, we need to recognize that a renewed heart is the best safeguard we can possibly have. When the desire is lost, the sin we desire will not be an issue.
How then may we obtain that renewed heart?
It comes to us by God’s redeeming grace. God is our sure deliverer, and He alone can change our hearts.
That being said, the Lord instructs us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The work of God comes by means of our dutiful action. He transforms us as we renew our minds.
Thus, we must do our due diligence in changing the way we think, trusting that the Lord will manifest His grace inwardly.
For instance, someone may have a run away fantasy life. He or she may indulge his/her thoughts in pictures on screens or pictures created in his/her mind. How does one find deliverance from such things?
It comes through the renewal of the mind. Up to this point those images have not been real human beings. They have been comparable to a fast car or a video game. They were merely instruments of pleasure that he/she used. They were slaves serving his/her selfishness.
Renewing your mind in this case means thinking about the opposite sex in a much more holy and dignified way. One person became much less likely to fantasize when he began thinking about the girls he saw as “people in need of God’s grace.”
To be sure, he needed God’s grace too. But his change of mind made him think of their need, and not his own. Instead lusting after their bodies, he felt compassion for their souls. They were no longer his objects of personal pleasure. They were dignified creatures who needed the gospel.
Since they were now real people (needy people at that!), this fellow lost the urge to click on the usual sites. What’s more, when he saw someone pretty, he didn’t just turn his eyes away as a means of fighting an urge. He confessed that he was actually able to look at the people he passed by with a pure heart.
In sum, he sought to renew his mind by changing the way he thought. And that brought about a radical transformation in his life.
A good way to begin down the path to transformation is to take a few minutes to create a "lust prevention list." In what ways are your thoughts askew? Write down what your current thoughts are. Then create another list. This column should be devoted to the new thoughts you should have.
For example, you may write down something like this: I find sexual fulfillment in my screen slaves. Perhaps you've never thought about your phone and your porn use this way, but it is true. That's exactly what your subconsciously think.
In the second column, you should write the following types of things:
1) I will no longer own sex slaves; Satan is the one who puts people in bondage and I will not be a servant of Satan.
2) I will no longer use and abuse women in this way.
3) I will honor my wife (or future wife) above my own felt needs.
4) I will not dishonor this woman on my screen, contribute to her defiling, or disrespect her father/husband.
Take some time to pray and ask the Lord to add to the list too. While you are at it, confess the sinfulness of the first list (see the first article in this series) and ask the Lord to erase such thoughts from your mind.
Finally, make a point to actively think the thoughts of your new list. Be diligent at it so that it becomes your default mentality. As you do this, you will find that God’s grace will be breaking down habits that you may have thought impossible to destroy before.