How do you beat porn addiction? For the man or woman who has been fighting this battle for the long time, often its seems like there’s no hope in sight. When we want to change, what practical defenses can be put in place that make for lasting change?
Bob Reehm, author of The War Within, presents seven key tactics for maintaining sexual purity. Bob’s approach is both unique and refreshing because he weaves together his knowledge of Scripture with his experience in Naval warfare, painting a vivid picture of the spiritual battle behind sexual sin.
Tactic #1: Scripture Memory – Bob writes, “A ship in the water is a good thing. Water in the ship is a bad thing. A Christian in the world is a good thing. The world in the Christian or a worldly Christian is a bad thing.” The question is: How do we keep water out of the boat? We need to utilize the weapons God has given us, and the primary weapon we have is His Word.
Tactic #2: Armed with His Promises – Knowing God’s Word, we also need to apply it and meditate upon it. In times of temptation, in times of failure, and in all the ups and downs of life, we must have on the armor of God’s promises to fortify our hearts and minds. Just like a warship’s steel exterior, we must arm ourselves with His great promises, putting our trust in them, not in our feelings.
Tactic #3: Reckoning Ourselves Dead to Sin – The Bible says that those who have the Spirit of Christ in them are united to Christ in his death and resurrection. This means we are currently “dead to sin.” What we must do is reckon or count this to be true. Like a warship wrapped in electromagnetic coils to ward off magnetic mines, when we wrap ourselves in Jesus Christ, we can ward off temptation.
Tactic #4: Warfare Prayer – When an airplane attacks a ship on the open sea, the ship cannot outrun the plane. It must stand and fight. When Satan attacks with tempting thoughts, we cannot outrun him, but we can outgun him. Like Jesus in the wilderness, we need to have Scripture in our hearts and minds, ready to speak aloud when Satan whispers deceiving thoughts.
Tactic #5: Retreat – When tempting situations present themselves, rather than remaining and letting ourselves be entertained by the idea of sin, God commands us to flee. When a ship is in range of an enemy’s guns, and there is no way to counterattack, the best thing to do is get out of range.
Tactic #6: Cast Your Cares on God – When a submarine wants to attack a warship, it can hide beneath the “thermal layer” under the water. Similarly, often hidden motives and hurts in our hearts move us to act out in sinful ways. We turn to sin as an escape. Instead, we need to make God our refuge, learning the art of crying out to Him in times of frustration, exhaustion, and pain.
Tactic #7: Community – No one goes to war alone. When the enemy attacks we need comrades to help us fight well. When it comes to fighting temptation and sin, we need to have fellow Christians around us, challenging us to holiness.
www.covenanteyes.com. Used by permission of Luke Gilkerson.