As mentioned in the previous section, despite knowing that viewing pornograpy is wrong it can still seem like it is impossible to resist this temptation. Why is that?
It is easy to think that maybe you are weaker than your brethren that don’t have this problem, or that maybe you just aren’t faithful enough. That isn’t the case. As Paul states in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (ESV). You can be certain that many brethren are struggling with this very same problem along with you, and those that aren’t are struggling with other things that you don’t have a problem with.
A sex drive is a natural instinct that we share with the rest of the animal kingdom, and it is needed in order to fulfil God’s purpose of man multiplying and filling the earth. As a result, the brain releases various chemicals such as dopamine, a hormone responsible for pleasure, as a reward system in response to both seeking out, and partaking in sexual activity.
Unfortunately this pleasure release cycle doesn’t only happen within the bounds of the marriage covenant as God intended, but during any sexually stimulating activities, such as viewing pornography.
With continued use, your body and mind come to crave that reward response cycle that viewing pornography provides, and the high that comes with it. This results in more compulsive viewing of porn and difficulty in breaking free from the habit. The neurological processes involved in this are similar to the stimulation of the brain’s reward system and dopamine release that occurs with addiction to substances like cocaine and heroin.
Knowing that it is your basic animal instincts that are driving this behaviour helps to answer the question of why you find it so hard to resist even though you know it is wrong. It is because this behaviour is being driven by your carnal mind, which isn’t subject to the law of God, neither can it be, as Paul tells us in Romans 8:7.
But there is hope, and it can be seen in the very fitting words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7: 22-25
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind
Romans 7: 22-25 (ESV)
But, how can you serve the law of God with your mind, with your spiritual mind that is, in ways that can help prevent you from being taken captive by your carnal desires and cravings to view pornography? Let’s start by taking some lessons from a faithful man of old who faced what seemed like an impossible battle against ‘king sin’.
Get Off the Roof! 