Have you ever found old food that has been left out somewhere in a dark place in your house or garage? Even the thought of it makes me say, "yuck."
The smell alone is atrocious. The mold growing on it has mold growing on it, and this dark germ infested Petri dish serves as a magnet for insects and rodents.
What if this picture of old moldy food in the natural realm is eerily similar to what is happening in the spiritual realm when someone is trapped in a porn addiction?
Let's set that possibility a side for just a moment, and first look at some sobering stats on America's issues with porn.
Over 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites
The porn industry’s annual revenue is more than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. It is also more than the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC.
47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their home
Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%
56% of American divorces involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites
55% of married men and 25% of married women say they watch porn at least once a month -www.conquerseries.com
Now let's take a quick look at some of the physical issues that addiction to porn creates.
A porn addiction sets the mind into the addiction cycle.
"Studies show that actual brain function changes in someone who has an addiction - and the changes are the same in all addiction: alcohol, drugs, or pornography. Because pornography use can become an actual addiction, viewers are not able to stop through their own will power. Pornography addicts will need to engage in the same difficult recovery process a drug addict has to go through." -familytoday.com
In the same way that a tolerance to drugs and alcohol builds over time, so does an addiction to pornography.
Warning signs of a Porn addiction include, "Requiring increasing amounts or more explicit porn to gain the same satisfaction or thrill, similar to the development of a tolerance" -Projectknow.com
Drastically confuses what love, and real intimacy is.
"With pornography, we use sex as a substitute for nurture, intimacy, and love. Sex is no longer a wonderful source of connection between our deepest selves and a beloved partner; it becomes a commodity used to avoid intimacy and mask needs that should be met through human connections." -familytoday.com
Porn Addiction ruins your Libido.
"It’s only natural, then, that many people who use porn in the past, or who use porn in the present, have virtually no libido when it comes to making love to their spouse. The spouse is not what turns them on, and so the natural drive that we have for sex is transferred somewhere else." -tolovehonorandvacuum.com
This list could go on, but let's get back to the analogy of moldy food left in a dark place.
In multiple Gospel accounts Jesus was accused of being demon possessed. Part of the accusation was Jesus was partnered with Beelzebub. What? Who is Beelzebub?
Beelzebub is a word used in the Hebrew translated old testament, and the Greek translated new testament. The title is a name for Satan himself and can be translated as, Lord of the Flies.
What's the point? What does this have to do with a porn addiction?
What attracts flies?
These pests are common in unkept areas. Conditions that attract flies in and around homes include:
Garbage cans left uncovered.
Animal carcasses in the walls, attics, or elsewhere.
Manure or pet feces around yards.
Fermenting fruit on countertops.
Spilled soda and open containers of alcohol.
Scum at the bottom and coating the inside of drains. - Orkin.com
The reason a porn addiction has such terrible side effects is because we are openly feasting on old moldy infested food, spiritually speaking. When someone hides and subjects themselves to that spiritual reality, they open a door to be plagued by the Lord of Flies.
And the results of opening your spirit up to those flies, or demons, is destruction on personal lives and the personal lives of those around the person addicted to porn.
When hidden in the dark this spiritual sickness/addiction slowly eats away at us from the inside out and causes a ripple effect of damage to those around us.
The Good News in the midst of this?
There is a way out, and you can be free from this spiritual sickness. I was personally enslaved to an addiction to pornography for over 14 yrs, but roughly 10 yrs ago it ended. It ended when I had had enough, and I begin intentionally fighting it with accountability and prayer.
God wants to set those free that are locked into the spiritual chains of a pornography addiction, but they have to come out of hiding and walk in the Light.
If you or a loved one is struggling, let's talk. There is freedom, and it can start today.
Erik Frederickson is Life and Recovery Coach. He has clients all over the world and he is considered an expert at helping people transform their life in powerful ways.
Contact Erik HERE - info@recoveringreality.com
Sign up for 7 days of FREE online Recovery Coaching HERE
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