Let’s face it: talking with someone about your addiction to pornography is difficult. Sometimes, it feels downright impossible.
How ironic is it that living in such a sex-saturated culture, we still find it awkward to be vulnerable and transparent about the sexual issues we’re having? I believe the reason for this lies not necessarily within the subject of sex, but within the subject of shame.
Could it be that shame is really what we’re addicted to? The deep-seated belief that we are the problem. That we’re unworthy. We’re unlovable.
This is the lie that addiction really sells us. We’re ushered in with feelings of pleasure and control. And before long we find that we’re not allowed to leave. We can’t escape because we feel trapped.
I’m convinced today this was the sole reason I struggled for so many years without freedom. I not only felt shame, I believed what shame replayed in my head over and over.
There’s a fantastic new book being released in February from Carl Thomas, CEO of XXXchurch.com and founder of Small Groups Online. It’s entitled “When Shame Gets Real: A New Way to Talk About Sex, Porn, and Masturbation”. In the book, Carl shares how shame is the real threat to us.
Shame has the ability to cripple a person for life. But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Carl shares how living in shame prevents us from being fully present to our pain, our needs, and the real desires we have inside. And what we have to realize is that shame isn’t something to be ignored, but to be confronted.
The more we ignore, the more we stuff, the more we pretend like something doesn’t affect us, and the more we will spiral into our unwanted sexual behaviors. Why? Because we haven’t learned to confront shame.
Here are some common lies that shame tries to tell us:
LIE #1: Shame says you’re alone.
Please understand, NOTHING could be further from the truth. We as human beings not only live in a broken world…but we were born into brokenness and sin.
We’re in need of rescue. And God did just that in His son Jesus. First and foremost, Christ is our rescue, our salvation, and our healing. I don’t know where I would be today without the saving power of Jesus in my life.
But I also know that in my years of addiction, I wasn’t alone. In my recovery, I’m not alone. Because there are a countless number of other men who share a similar story.
Don’t allow shame to convince you you’re all by yourself and you have no hope of freedom.
LIE #2: Shame says you’re unlovable.
WRONG!!! This is one of the biggest whoppers out there.
Unfortunately, so many of us have believed it at some point that our secrets stay hidden and we devolve even more. We believe if people really knew us and our secret lives, they wouldn’t want anything to do with us.
And it’s true, some may not. But those people who are safe and healthy will be able to see someone who’s in need of healing.
For the longest time, I lived as a person who felt unlovable. I was afraid if people really knew the real me, I would lose everything. So I pretended, lied, and covered up the truth of my porn addiction, which only made things worse.
Know this truth: You are loved — first and foremost by the One who created you and by so many others who are helping men and women find freedom every day.
LIE #3: Shame says you have no future.
I and millions of others are living proof this is a lie.
Today, I’m freer and healthier than I’ve ever been. What I didn’t realize for the 13 years I was addicted, was that my life was on a destructive path. And it wasn’t because of some kind of failure in God’s will and plans for my life, it was because of my unhealthy choices.
Choices. Shame attempts to call this out and direct our attention to it. Make us focus on it. Sell us the lie that we have no future.
It took some pretty serious consequences in my life to unfold for me to realize the path I was on. I was living a truly diminished life. I wasn’t becoming the man God created me to be. But as I embraced the pain I was dealing with and the lies I was believing about myself, I began to find freedom.
I did have a future…a very beautiful one at that.
Perhaps the title of this post confused you: “Facing the Truth about Shame”. Well actually, there isn’t any truth connected to shame at all, only the lies as described above. And it isn’t until we identify those lies shame tries to convince us of, that our eyes can be opened.
Small Groups Online is an excellent opportunity for you to confront shame with the help of other men and women who are doing the same! Remember, you are not alone! SGO offers you a weekly safe, secure, online meeting via Zoom which will help build healthy community in your life.
We also want to encourage you to check out Carl Thomas’ new book, “When Shame Gets Real: A New Way to Talk About Sex, Porn, and Masturbation”, which will be released in February.