The Church and You
There seems to be a correlation with porn addiction and isolation. Many people blame their isolation on their porn addiction, and there is probably a lot of truth to that.
Personally I was isolated before I became addicted to porn. I was isolated due to the loss of my dad when I was 11, an emotionally abusive sister, a school where everyone made fun of me and a church that just didn’t care about me. Is it possible that if things had been different I would never have become addicted to porn? Sure anythings possible. Personally I think my view on sex made it inevitable that I became addicted to porn, but I also think my isolation fed my porn addiction. Whether your porn addiction caused your isolation, or your isolation caused your porn addiction, doesn’t matter. What matters is that emotionally healthy, biblical relationships will be of tremendous help to you when you are overcoming your porn addiction. I am a single guy, and unfortunately about 99.99% of conversations on singles in regards to relationships is about courting, dating, and getting married. Honestly if you are struggling with porn addiction I think courting, dating, and getting married is more of a detriment than a help, at least at the early stages of no PMO. If dating and courtship are off the table then what healthy relationship is available? The answer is a relationship with the people in your local church. God wishes to use your local church to get you out of isolation, and once out of isolation you should have a much easier time dealing with porn addiction. The Bible has a lot to say to singles about an emotionally healthy, biblical relationship with the local church. In the next few days I am going to post a series on how to have a right relationship with the local church. This series is going to try to ask some questions you need to ask. For instance, what are your relational needs as a single person? Who is to meet those needs? What role do you play in the local church? What is the ultimate goal in having a right relationship in the local church? This series does not directly address porn, but the application of this series will be of tremendous help in overcoming porn addiction. I would also like to ask a harsh question. How many singles just don’t have the people skills to develop a romantic relationship to the point of marriage? I am asking this question because there are so many singles that think that marriage is the answer to all their problems. The reality of the situation is that God did not design marriage to fix your problems. God made marriage when Adam and Eve were perfect. God made the church after Jesus came to save sinners. The church is the place where people sinners should seek help, not marriage. This series is intended to point out how to get the help you need from your local church. |