There is victory over porn addiction!

[machew]

My Testimony:

I used to be a porn addict from my high school years to my third year of college, 1 year into being a Christian. I don't blame anyone else for my addiction. Blame shifting only breeds bitterness towards another party, which is not a healthy way of dealing with it. I found that the more I looked at it, the more it attracted the demonic around me, and the more power it had over me, because of my agreement with the enemy for it as an acceptable form of coping with my loneliness and inner pain. I didn't know that this was why I ran to porn at the time, but later found out as God showed me the huge hole in my heart. When I became a Christian and found out that it was not an acceptable way to cope with this, I found out how much power it had over me, I couldn't stop no matter what I did. I went through 8 months of day and night prayer, non-stop, "God help me! I don't wan't to do this anymore!." I felt ashamed of myself, and like I was the filth of his kingdom. After 8 months of crying out to God, when I felt like I just wanted to give up, God showed up in my room in power, and I fell to the floor sobbing in a fetal position all night long, as God told me:

"Matthew you are my precious son, I have never been disappointed in you, and you have brought my heart so much joy"

I thought to myself: "Is He talking about the same Matthew here?"

God: "Matthew, I have so enjoyed watching you these past few hours, you are the source of so much of my joy. You need to know that there is nothing you can do that can separate you from my Love for you and who you are."

I realized something that day. The reason I felt so trapped in it was because I believed that my sin still separated me from God, and made me feel like God was turning His face away from me. This was shame that the enemy put on me to convince me that I couldn't approach God. I found out through an encounter with God that this was not true. I kept hearing, "my blood was enough for you." But I also kept hearing that voice of guilt trying to get me focused back on everything that was wrong with me. Then I heard God say "Don't let yourself focus on what the accuser is saying to you, you are my son. The only thing you need to do is to be my son! That is who you are and nobody will take you away from me!"

How the enemy kept me trapped:
I found out that I had to take personal responsibility over what I allowed myself to focus on, and that the enemy only had power over me when I made an agreement with him. The way he kept me trapped was to tempt me, then put this fear on me of sinning so that I would feel powerless to do anything about it, then fall into sin, then he would accuse me of doing it over and over again to make the problem seem so big in my head. Later the enemy would continue to plant fear in me of doing it again. The enemy does this to give you the belief that you are trapped and can't do anything to get out of it.

A good definition of fear is: faith in a lie. The enemy keeps us trapped in sin by having us fear the sin we feel trapped in, then accusing us of doing it until shame is all over us and the problem is so big in our head that we fear it more. This was the endless cycle that I felt trapped in. God showed me all of this and what the enemy was doing in me and freed me from my addiction. To this day(about 6 years) I have been free from this addiction and live in the victory of Jesus in this area of my life.

I posted this in the hopes that it would help people on here that are struggling with this. There is victory in Christ over porn addictions, and the enemy is a liar. No blame should be shifted to other people. It is the enemy that tempts us, and our choice to give into it. If the enemy can convince you that you are powerless against his temptation, then you will fall into temptation. But if you realize that the enemy is just trying to intimidate you and is trying to convince you that you can't resist him, then you can realize there is nothing to fear and lift your sword and give the enemy a good wap on the head, "Get behind me satan!"

The easiest way to give into the enemy's temptations is to forget who you are as a son and daughter of God. When you don't remember who you are, and the authority that you carry as co-heirs with Christ, then you will believe the enemy's lies. You are all sons and daughters of the most High God!

 

[mpaper345]

Satan did not tempt Adam,he tempted Eve and used Eve to tempt Adam.

That is biggest thing to get over is lusting after the opposite sex or the same sex for some people.

Matt

 

[machew]

Satan did not tempt Adam,he tempted Eve and used Eve to tempt Adam.

That is biggest thing to get over is lusting after the opposite sex or the same sex for some people.

Matt

I don't feel that this is a good way of looking at it because it allows you to take no personal responsibility for your own choices and to shift the blame to someone else. God gave us free-will and we will be accountable for our own choices. No amount of blame-shifting will change this.

 

[livingbygrace]

My Testimony:


"Matthew you are my precious son, I have never been disappointed in you, and you have brought my heart so much joy"

I thought to myself: "Is He talking about the same Matthew here?"

God: "Matthew, I have so enjoyed watching you these past few hours, you are the source of so much of my joy. You need to know that there is nothing you can do that can separate you from my Love for you and who you are."

I realized something that day. The reason I felt so trapped in it was because I believed that my sin still separated me from God, and made me feel like God was turning His face away from me. This was shame that the enemy put on me to convince me that I couldn't approach God. I found out through an encounter with God that this was not true. I kept hearing, "my blood was enough for you." But I also kept hearing that voice of guilt trying to get me focused back on everything that was wrong with me. Then I heard God say "Don't let yourself focus on what the accuser is saying to you, you are my son. The only thing you need to do is to be my son! That is who you are and nobody will take you away from me!"

How the enemy kept me trapped:
I found out that I had to take personal responsibility over what I allowed myself to focus on, and that the enemy only had power over me when I made an agreement with him. The way he kept me trapped was to tempt me, then put this fear on me of sinning so that I would feel powerless to do anything about it, then fall into sin, then he would accuse me of doing it over and over again to make the problem seem so big in my head. Later the enemy would continue to plant fear in me of doing it again. The enemy does this to give you the belief that you are trapped and can't do anything to get out of it.

A good definition of fear is: faith in a lie. The enemy keeps us trapped in sin by having us fear the sin we feel trapped in, then accusing us of doing it until shame is all over us and the problem is so big in our head that we fear it more. This was the endless cycle that I felt trapped in. God showed me all of this and what the enemy was doing in me and freed me from my addiction. To this day(about 6 years) I have been free from this addiction and live in the victory of Jesus in this area of my life.

I posted this in the hopes that it would help people on here that are struggling with this. There is victory in Christ over porn addictions, and the enemy is a liar. No blame should be shifted to other people. It is the enemy that tempts us, and our choice to give into it. If the enemy can convince you that you are powerless against his temptation, then you will fall into temptation. But if you realize that the enemy is just trying to intimidate you and is trying to convince you that you can't resist him, then you can realize there is nothing to fear and lift your sword and give the enemy a good wap on the head, "Get behind me satan!"

The easiest way to give into the enemy's temptations is to forget who you are as a son and daughter of God. When you don't remember who you are, and the authority that you carry as co-heirs with Christ, then you will believe the enemy's lies. You are all sons and daughters of the most High God!

This is a marvelous post, It has been an avbsolute privilege to read it.

Matthew
I realised sometyhing that day. The reason I felt so trapped in it is because I believed that my sin still seperated me from God, and nade me feel like God was turning his face away from me

Hallelujah. This indeed is what the devil uses to keep you enslaved to him

You have learned wonderful lessons in truth. It is always in our hardest times that we do

God Bless You, this I hope will be an encouragement to many.

 

[mpaper345]

I am not saying that you cannot overcome it and we are responsible for our actions but it will give some some people a hard time compared to other things they are tempted with.As people are cleaning their life up lusting after someone will probably give them a hard time compared to other temptations.

Actually the tongue is the most unruliest member of our body which God says that no man can tame.The Bible says if we can tame the tongue we can tame the whole body but nobody can tame the tongue.That is one reason for speaking in tongues because God takes the one part of our body,the tongue,that we cannot control and takes control of it causing the whole body to be tamed abstaining from sin.

Matt

 

[machew]

I respectfully request that as you respond, that you don't debate theology on this thread. My intention for this post is to bless others, not for it to be a place of theological debate. Thanks!

 

[1still_waters]

Mchew if you'd like, i can close this thread so no one can turn it in to a debate thread, so your testimony can stand on its own. People will still be able to read it. Also we have a testimony forum. I can move this there if you'd like. Seeing this is bible discussion here, folks may feel as if they can turn this in to a theological discourse.

 

[phil36]

Thank you machew for your testimony, it is a blessing to read and I pray that it will help others also.

Thank you for your honesty, and as I said, it was a blessing to read.

Phil

 

[machew]

Mchew if you'd like, i can close this thread so no one can turn it in to a debate thread, so your testimony can stand on its own. People will still be able to read it. Also we have a testimony forum. I can move this there if you'd like. Seeing this is bible discussion here, folks may feel as if they can turn this in to a theological discourse.

It's fine for now. If you feel that you need to, go ahead. But it hasn't become a problem, and I'm sure people are mature enough to not pick apart someone's victory for the sake of their theology. I am hopeful that everyone can appreciate this.

Though the tendency on here has been different, I have faith that the Holy Spirit will give everyone what they need from this regardless

 

[Mulehide]

Machew thank you so much for this post. Thank you for sharing so honestly what the Lord has done for you. This has been such a blessing and encouragement! Thanks again

 

[Shwagga]

awesome, praise God

 

[lightbliss]

Wow that's so great.

God bless

 

[Grey]

amen to that.

 

[VW]

Jesus is the answer for every trouble and sin and desire and everything else that would keep us from the love of God.

Thank you for your honesty and for sharing this grace.

When we are away from Him for a time, He always is looking for us to return. He is never away from us, ever. Some day, we will understand that He is our Father in truth, and come to Him just in this way.

In His marvelous love,
your brother in Christ,
vic

 

[lighthousejohn]

My Testimony:

I used to be a porn addict from my high school years to my third year of college, 1 year into being a Christian. I don't blame anyone else for my addiction. Blame shifting only breeds bitterness towards another party, which is not a healthy way of dealing with it. I found that the more I looked at it, the more it attracted the demonic around me, and the more power it had over me, because of my agreement with the enemy for it as an acceptable form of coping with my loneliness and inner pain. I didn't know that this was why I ran to porn at the time, but later found out as God showed me the huge hole in my heart. When I became a Christian and found out that it was not an acceptable way to cope with this, I found out how much power it had over me, I couldn't stop no matter what I did. I went through 8 months of day and night prayer, non-stop, "God help me! I don't wan't to do this anymore!." I felt ashamed of myself, and like I was the filth of his kingdom. After 8 months of crying out to God, when I felt like I just wanted to give up, God showed up in my room in power, and I fell to the floor sobbing in a fetal position all night long, as God told me:

"Matthew you are my precious son, I have never been disappointed in you, and you have brought my heart so much joy"

I thought to myself: "Is He talking about the same Matthew here?"

God: "Matthew, I have so enjoyed watching you these past few hours, you are the source of so much of my joy. You need to know that there is nothing you can do that can separate you from my Love for you and who you are."

I realized something that day. The reason I felt so trapped in it was because I believed that my sin still separated me from God, and made me feel like God was turning His face away from me. This was shame that the enemy put on me to convince me that I couldn't approach God. I found out through an encounter with God that this was not true. I kept hearing, "my blood was enough for you." But I also kept hearing that voice of guilt trying to get me focused back on everything that was wrong with me. Then I heard God say "Don't let yourself focus on what the accuser is saying to you, you are my son. The only thing you need to do is to be my son! That is who you are and nobody will take you away from me!"

How the enemy kept me trapped:
I found out that I had to take personal responsibility over what I allowed myself to focus on, and that the enemy only had power over me when I made an agreement with him. The way he kept me trapped was to tempt me, then put this fear on me of sinning so that I would feel powerless to do anything about it, then fall into sin, then he would accuse me of doing it over and over again to make the problem seem so big in my head. Later the enemy would continue to plant fear in me of doing it again. The enemy does this to give you the belief that you are trapped and can't do anything to get out of it.

A good definition of fear is: faith in a lie. The enemy keeps us trapped in sin by having us fear the sin we feel trapped in, then accusing us of doing it until shame is all over us and the problem is so big in our head that we fear it more. This was the endless cycle that I felt trapped in. God showed me all of this and what the enemy was doing in me and freed me from my addiction. To this day(about 6 years) I have been free from this addiction and live in the victory of Jesus in this area of my life.

I posted this in the hopes that it would help people on here that are struggling with this. There is victory in Christ over porn addictions, and the enemy is a liar. No blame should be shifted to other people. It is the enemy that tempts us, and our choice to give into it. If the enemy can convince you that you are powerless against his temptation, then you will fall into temptation. But if you realize that the enemy is just trying to intimidate you and is trying to convince you that you can't resist him, then you can realize there is nothing to fear and lift your sword and give the enemy a good wap on the head, "Get behind me satan!"

The easiest way to give into the enemy's temptations is to forget who you are as a son and daughter of God. When you don't remember who you are, and the authority that you carry as co-heirs with Christ, then you will believe the enemy's lies. You are all sons and daughters of the most High God!

machew,

Your testimony is both transparent and refreshing. I find your willingness to open your soul to public scrutiny as an example of what it means to "confess our sins one to another." I pray that others will feel free to share their innermosst struggles so tha we can all pray for them. I will keep you in my prayers.

Remember this; The only authority satan has over us is the authority we give him!
Keep your mind on things above and take captive every thought to the glory of God.

In Christ,
John

 

[preacher_man]

I too have this diesease, so I turned to this post for encouragement and support. As i read it it just sounded like any other plain testimony. But I want the person who posted this to know when you gave account to the words GOd spoke to you, my spirit cried out. I was so close to crying. Although those words were spoken to you the words touched me. I just had to simply raise my hands in praise to GOd because it was excatly wat i need to here. I also felt like the filth of his kingdom, unable to pproach him, i even stop taking communion but the spirit of GOd has minstered to me through your post. God bess you.

 

[forgivenandloved]

praise God!

 

[machew]

I too have this diesease, so I turned to this post for encouragement and support. As i read it it just sounded like any other plain testimony. But I want the person who posted this to know when you gave account to the words GOd spoke to you, my spirit cried out. I was so close to crying. Although those words were spoken to you the words touched me. I just had to simply raise my hands in praise to GOd because it was excatly wat i need to here. I also felt like the filth of his kingdom, unable to pproach him, i even stop taking communion but the spirit of GOd has minstered to me through your post. God bess you.

preacher_man: God is overjoyed when He looks at you no matter where you think you are. Never EVER give up. If you fall again and again and again, keep getting back up. Don't dwell on what you just did. Get back up and proclaim "This is not who I am anymore, I don't care if I have fallen a thousand times, Jesus' blood is my victory over this." Then move on immediately with life. Don't dwell on it! The more you dwell on it, the more you will go into shame, guilt, and performance mode which is not where God wants you to go. You are not the person that keeps falling and you are not a failure. These things aren't a part of your identity in Christ. God sees you as His amazing son who He Loves. You are a part of God's immediate family! If you dwell on who you really are, then you have fully repented. Repentance means to change the way you think, it isn't just turning from sin, but also turning to the truth of what God says.

I used to struggle with porn more times than I can count. I have gotten to the other side and haven't struggled with it for about 6 years. And can tell you that there really is freedom from it. Don't ever give up! Keep going and don't let it define who you are. Only let what God says about you define who you are! You will find freedom in God's Love for you. :-D

 

[machew]

I sent this private message in response to a question someone here had about my post and thought it might be helpful to everyone:

To understand this you have to understand how much what you think about it and dwell on it effects your ability to resist it. Whether you are dwelling on not doing it, or dwelling on doing it doesn't matter. The more you dwell/focus on something the bigger it becomes in your consciousness and the more power it has to influence your decisions. This is why the Bible says that the battle in in the mind. When the enemy can get you to agree with a lie, he now has the power to manipulate and control your reactions.

The strategy of the enemy is to get you to fear the temptation and the sin, so it becomes your focus and gains more power over you. The more you fear something the more influence and even control it will have over your reaction. When something becomes really big in your mind because you are dwelling on it, unless you realize the effect it is having on you, you will automatically react to cope with it. Unfortunately for most people this is to dwell on it more and eventually see the problem as a huge problem and feel powerless to do anything about it. Once this response is invoked by the enemy, the usual result is giving into the temptation. After falling into the sinful act, the enemy plants the shame emotion in you for what you did to lower your self-confidence even further. This invokes a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness.

When powerlessness and hopelessness are coupled with fear of doing it again, it keeps you in an endless cycle of doing it over and over again, because you don't see any way out of it besides letting it happen. This will keep happening unless God steps in and directly intervenes and corrects those lies in your head or you realize that the only reason you feel powerless is because you are in the enemy's cycle of lies that are keeping you trapped.

When you get out of this trap, the Holy Spirit is then able to bring healing and deliverance you need from it without interfering with your free-will. The reason it is so hard for many people is because when they feel powerless to do anything they give into willingly doing it, and the Holy Spirit the majority of the time won't interfere with their decision to dive back into it. The Holy Spirit convicts the person, but someone who feels hopelessly trapped will tend to ignore the conviction to cope with it because they don't know how to get out of it.

 

[VW]

This is so important. When we surrender to the Spirit, and let Him bring every thought we have captive to Christ Jesus, and renew us from the inner man, having the love and grace of God in His presence, then the devil is already defeated, as he was defeated in the cross. Christ put these tricksters to an open shame, exposing their lies for what they are.

I find that when I am in the Spirit, and only when I am in the Spirit, that my mind is always not only aware of Christ, but filled with Christ. No temptation, no lie, no sin has power over us when we are in the Spirit.

Blessings brother, in His name,
vic