Well, from August 2010 to February 2011 I've been free of watching pornography and masturbation. Both of these I consider sins. Now I've fallen again into watching pornography. It's just that resisting these urges to sin just causes me great stress... and, somehow I feel released from that stress when I sin. I don't want to justify sinning, so I want to get rid of my sins as soon as possible.
Friend, the urge to sin will always be with you. Until you die you will struggle against the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil. Do you, then, have to fall under the power of these tempting influences? No. The Bible says that every believer in Christ, every person who has trusted in Christ as their Saviour, has become a "new creation" in Christ (
2 Cor. 5:17). In part this means that you are no longer bound to sin. At the moment you were saved, you had for the first time true freedom from the power of sin. The sin nature that provokes every human being to sin is rendered powerless by Christ's work on the cross. Paul the apostle knew this, which is why he wrote:
Romans 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
No child of God
has to sin. Upon being born again one is united with Christ spiritually in his death, burial and resurrection and this union with him puts to death the "old man" out of which sin arises and frees every child of God from sin.
Romans 6:6-7
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
It remains for the one who wants to experience the truth of this in his life to begin to count on (or "reckon") it being true whenever he is tempted.
Romans 6:11-12
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Instead of saying to yourself, "Oh, man I am want so much to look at porn," tell yourself the truth: "I am a new creature in Christ. I am free from the power of this sin." As you stand upon this truth, unmoved from it by what you feel or see, you will begin to experience its truth in how you live.
The Bible also says:
Romans 13:14
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Did you get that bit about not making any provision for the flesh? If you struggle with porn on the 'net, get rid of your computer. Seriously. Or get someone to place viewing controls on your computer so you can't access porn. Remove the temptation from your life as much as you can.
Remember, too, that the power to live righteously comes from God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Victory over temptation relies upon living in constant, conscious submission to the Holy Spirit, or what the apostle Paul describes as "walking in the Spirit."
Galatians 5:16-18
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
I need help. I'll just be honest with myself. Before I fell into these sins, I stopped praying, stopped reading the Bible for how many months, I'm not exactly sure. Please, I need help.
This, of course, has everything to do with falling into sin. The Word of God is your spiritual food. Just as failing to eat weakens you physically, so, too, failing to nourish yourself spiritually causes spiritual weakness. A spiritually starved Christian will inevitably fall into sin. King David wrote,
Psalms 119:11
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
Psalms 1:2-3
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
Why have you ceased fellowship with God? For when you stop praying and studying Scripture you shut down the primary lines of communication between you and your Maker.
Selah.
