It is a good sign that you're concerned about your sins. That's praiseworthy.
Here are four very practical tips. With God's help, they will prove very helpful.
1. Make the following vow: God, in the event that I deliberately look at porn or masturbate between now and 1 June, I will explicitly confess my sin to [insert the name of a Christian person whom you trust but would be embarrassed to tell]. If you find that this works, renew the vow on a monthly or annual basis.
2. Convince yourself to find porn and masturbation disgusting. These aren't just fun things that we can get away with. These are disgusting, perverse actions that distort God's created order. When a man takes pleasure in porn or masturbation, it is like taking pleasure in gouging out his eyes with a dull knife. It is unnatural, stupid, and self-destructive. It should really piss you off that the enemy has put this garbage in your mind, and you should hate it like you would hate it if someone raped your sister or mother. God gave us the passion of hatred for a reason--it is to protect us against evil. Hate these sins with all your hating.
3. Third, if you feel the temptation or urge to sin in any of these ways, get away from the temptation. Don't keep a computer in a private room, for instance. Or, if you live alone, then stop using the Internet at home--go to the library. That will help you avoid porn. As for masturbation: remember the positions that you are most likely to sin in. If you want more specific advice, I'll get more graphic in private--send me an email.
4. Finally, find something to keep you busy. Idleness is the devil's greatest tool to destroying souls. We have to ask ourselves: how in the world do we have time to view porn daily and masturbate 2-3 times if we're serving the Lord? We must not be very busy with valuable work for God's kingdom. We need to get to work and do something valuable for once. Viewing porn and masturbating are supremely selfish activities--through them, we please ourselves and no one else. A good remedy to this would be to volunteer to help others. If you are tempted to lust, masturbate or view porn, go distribute Bible tracts, mow an old lady's lawn, visit a nursing home, volunteer at the county library, or something else. Get to work, and you'll forget to sin. Eventually, with God's help you'll form good habits.
These are serious sins, and we need to beware of them. The Spirit of the Lord isn't a Spirit of bondage. You can be delivered, and it is an excellent thing that you desire to overcome these sins. Don't let the pleasures of a moment destroy you.
As for the advice about adding an icon of Jesus: don't listen to that advice. Jesus doesn't condone the use of religious images like this. It violates the second commandment. In fact, icon veneration was one of the things that led to the rise of Antichrist. (I write about this in chapter 5 of my book
Approaching Armageddon: Disaster, War and Persecution.)
Kind Regards,
Daniel Davidson
). We could have some helpful tips, but... c'mon! You know God has the answer you need. I'll pray for you also, but make sure you talk to Him about this.
