Ever feel alone in your fight against porn addiction? (Tweet This!) Many struggle to resist the fierce temptation of lust, but knowing sin is common does not make it excusable. Rather, community—like a support group—offers power to overcome sin.
Community can be a source of encouragement, where we’re reminded through others’ stories that our weaknesses are not unusual. Community should be a safe place to be honest and vulnerable to others who understand our troubles. The stories of victory, small or complete, can motivate us to have the strength to do the same ourselves. Do you have a source of this kind of community encouragement?
Community offers accountability. Yes, being vulnerable can be a sacrifice, but it’s a far smaller price to pay than clinging to a crippling porn addiction. An accountability partner is a friend who wants the best for you. This friend who cares for and loves you will honor the honesty in your story, while encouraging you to avoid destructive habits. The cost of vulnerability is the “safety” of keeping your addiction a secret. We must choose: are we willing to give that up in order to get help in our battle?
Community offers perspective and conviction. The stories people tell give us new hope for victory or a new hatred for our sin. One student at my college described his pornography habit in a way that I won’t forget. He was interested in getting married to his girlfriend, but he looked at porn. In an intriguing revelation, he realized that every image he viewed is permanent. If he didn’t pursue purity, his porn habit would haunt him into his marriage.
He imagined this scene: around his marriage bed, every photo he’d ever viewed was taped on the wall. His new wife, wanting to bare herself without shame, then struggled with insecurity at a time meant to be beautiful. The story this student shared gave many of us a new perspective. It has motivated students to abandon their porn addiction and seek secure, loving, honest purity.
Support is available and valuable. Do you seek the testimonies and encouragement from others? Do you listen to their stories so you can direct your own?
* X3groups offers an incredible source of support and community for both men and women seeking purity and accountability. Join an X3group today and get 50% off your first month with discount code JOURNEY
Community Through Accountability: A Shared Porn Story by XXXchurch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.