Pornography affects everyone. It does not discriminate against race, creed, sex or national origin. Porn doesn’t care if you are young or old, handicap, gay or straight. Porn crosses all barriers. The porn industry makes nearly $97 billion a year worldwide. The industry has made these profits off films that cater to the desires or many. This money has come from the richest white man to the poorest black man. It attacks our natural desire for sex. The industry knows and understands our desires better than we do. They are pumping films and websites out as fast as they can. That is why there are over 4.2 million pornographic websites up today. Over 100 new websites will be launched before I finish this blog.
Every year on the third Monday of January we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During this day we are to remember his fight for freedom, equality, and dignity of all races. Dr. King made the statement that “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” This quote is filled with so much truth even when it comes to addiction. We understand that things are not going to change by themselves. Things change when we decide that we have had enough and want out. We cannot stay bent over allowing our addiction to overpower us. We must stand up straight and keep focused on our goal of freedom. Just as Dr. King urged us to be transformed so did the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, he made the statement that is little heeded in our pleasure oriented, self-centered world. He said, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your MIND.” This is not a quick fix. Transformation requires something out of you. Notice that the key to transformation is in changing your MIND. You see, this particular problem stems from the fact that you are able view porn as object of your pleasure. Transformation comes by changing your mind on this. The problem is our view point. Being it is football season lets look at it this way. A receiver is down field and about to catch a pass when the safety comes in and fights for the ball. Both men hit the ground and the safety has the ball. One of the referees calls it an interception while the coach on the sidelines saw the ball hit the ground before the safety had possession. The coach then throws his red flag to challenge the call on the field. The ref goes over and looks through his little view finder and sees from a different view point that that the safety did not have possession of the ball and the call on the field is then overturned. We need to do this in our lives. Some people see porn as harmless. That is when we need to throw out the challenge flag, step over to the view finder and see our actions from a different view. See it from our wife or girlfriend’s viewpoint or our kid’s viewpoint. Sometimes we have to see things from a different angle so we can begin transforming our minds to a different way of thinking. “If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.” MLK
The battle of addiction is tough. We can’t do it alone. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says that “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work” We have a great benefit when we work together through support, encouragement, and strengthening one another. On this day of remembrance of Dr. King let us not forget that we are all created in the image of God. All of us are a fallen people. That porn affects us all. If porn has a hold on you I urge you to get help today. Take the first step, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the staircase.” MLK