The Cure for Sexual Addictions

As one who has spent several years in bondage to sexual addictions believing that there is a way to live victorious over them, (There are way too many verses in the Bible that point to living a victorious life to believe otherwise.) as one who has spent the last several years seeking for answers and resources on freedom from sexual addictions, and as one who wants to spread the good news that living victorious over sexual addictions IS possible, I wanted to share something I recently encountered that is powerful in this area! I couldn't think of a better way to get people to go to this site and hear/read some of this for themselves than to just include a couple quotes from it to peak their interest.

Here are some quotes from John Piper's sermon and a link at the bottom where you can go to hear/read the entire sermon:
"My prayer for this conference, and for all of you one by one, is that you will see and savor the supremacy of Christ—married or single, male or female, old or young, devastated by disordered desires or walking in a measure of holiness—that all of you will behold and embrace the supremacy of Christ as the blazing sun at the center of your life, and that the planet of your sexuality, with all its little moons of pleasure, will orbit in its proper place."

"This is the blazing sun at the center of your solar system, holding the planet of sexuality in sacred orbit. This is the ballast at the bottom of your little boat keeping it from being capsized by the waves of sexual temptation. This the foundation that holds up the building of your life so that you can build with strategies of sexual purity. Without this—without knowing and embracing the supremacy of Christ in all things—the planets fly apart, the waves overwhelm, and the building will one day fall."

"Little souls make little lusts have great power. The soul, as it were, expands to encompass the magnitude of its treasure. The human soul was made to see and savor the supremacy of Christ. Nothing else is big enough to enlarge the soul as God intended and make little lusts lose their power."

"Therefore, the deepest cure to our pitiful addictions is not any mental strategies—and I believe in them and have my own. The deepest cure is to be intellectually and emotionally staggered by the infinite, everlasting, unchanging supremacy of Christ in all things. This is what it means to know him. Christ has purchased this gift for us at the cost of his life. Therefore, I say again with Hosea, let us know, let us press on to know the Lord."
Here is the link:
Sex and the Supremecy of Christ Part 2

"Pornography, adultery, homosexuality, etc. will never satisfy us, ever. The pornography industry makes its billions on customer dissatisfaction, and if we stay trapped there we'll always have a continual lust for more. It's like salt water, giving more thirst than satisfaction."

A quote from Setting Captives Free, Way of Purity course. This is a course I highly recommend for anyone struggling with a sexual addiction (Pornography, Self-gratification, etc.)

I've found nothing more helpful in my life than consistently spending an extended amount of time in prayer every morning. Many people might write me off right there saying, "I'm not a morning person," "It doesn't matter when you have your prayer time," or, "Evenings work best for me." Ok. There may be some validity to what they're saying, but I still have found that spending an extended amount of time in prayer in the morning is invaluable in the struggle against sinful habits, not to mention the many other benefits that go with it.

Why morning? It takes discipline. It proves to you and to God that you are serious about this relationship and want it more than anything else. You are setting aside the first part of your day before the demands of the day claim your thoughts, energy, and time. It makes God the primary focus of your day right from the beginning. It makes sure that your time with God gets done. God is your top priority. He is before everything else - where He should be.

It's hard. I am a morning person and I find myself struggling at times to get up early enough to set aside this time. When the demands of my job or other things keep me up until 11:00 or later the night before, getting up at 4:30 or 5:00 becomes that much more difficult. I find myself having to stand up and walk around just to stay awake for the first part of my prayer time. If I sit down, it's too easy to just get comfortable and wake up an hour later with no time left but to get ready for the day and go to work.

It needs to be focused. Dick Eastman says, "To be effective our sixty minutes with God should be carefully arranged. Systematic prayer adds health to the devotional habit. Most tasks in life are accomplished systematically. In fact, without a systematic approach to life, many goals would remain unreached."

Eastman quotes Harold Lindsell in his book "The Hour That Changes the World" (from which the above quote came) as saying, "Prayer does not come naturally to men. It must be learned. Learning to pray...includes knowledge of the laws governing prayer as well as experience gained in the practice of prayer. Prayer must be nourished and cultivated if it is to grow."

I know this might not be a very inspiring post, but sometimes what we need is not inspiration, but just a healthy dose of discipline. Get at it! Prayer is valuable. God asks us to pray. Prayer makes a difference, not only in our lives, but in the lives of others. What a privilege that we can have access directly to God through prayer! Why would ne not take advantage of this and give ourselves to the school of prayer. We could be and should be changing the world through our prayers.

I just picked up a copy of Dick Eastman's book, "The Hour That Changes the World." I borrowed it from a friend several years ago and it changed my life when I started applying the principles from it to my prayer life. Now I'm reading it again and gaining new ideas and challenges to apply to my prayer life. It is very exciting and invigorating! I highly recommend it. You can find it for a reasonable price on Amazon or other online bookstores.

Christ Lives Where Self Dies

“It is only when the last entrenchment of self-will has been surrendered that there can be a complete resurrection unto life. But when we are ready to say, “There is nothing that would dishonor Christ that I will not forsake, nothing that would bring glory to Him which I will not render or perform; I will give myself and all I have into His hands for time and for eternity; I will follow Christ whithersoever He goes,” Christ will not be long in taking full possession. With all His blessings He will enter our hearts, purging us from our evil, and so revealing himself to our inner consciousness that henceforth, in an unbroken line of deep, calm receptiveness, we may possess, and know that we possess, an indwelling Saviour.”

Thomas Cook

I Can Be Holy

“He who knows all my sins, who understands all my weaknesses and unworthiness, He commands me to “be…holy.” He from who all my help must come—He who knows that I can do nothing of myself, that in Him alone I have redemption—He commands me to “be…holy.” Then it must be possible. He has found out a ransom, He knows a cleansing power that is equal to the work, or he would never have spoken to my poor soul, saying, “Be ye holy.” Dark as it may be before me, impossible as it may seem to cleanse one so impure as I, yet “with God all things are possible.” And even in the case of a poor worm of earth, “all things are possible to him that believeth.”

                Let me no longer doubt; so long as the command is on record, and I am compelled to believe it is spoken to me, I must—I will believe that it is possible for even me to be holy.

~Jesse T. Peck

"Sin's greatest strength is the fact...that it comes incognito. In a thousand clever ways it disguises itself. It masks itself behind excuses, rationalizations, circumstances, and the influence of others. The cross strips the mask away and shows sin for the vicious monster it is, the utter, stark, rebellion against the love of God which is its real nature."
~W. J. Purkiser

Victory in Jesus

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

To those struggling with an addiction (particularly pornography and self-gratification), this verse offers hope - the only hope - for ever living a victorious life. It's not in my strength, in this program, in that accountability partner, through really getting determined; but it's only through Christ!

I believe in being determined - if you're not really putting yourself into it, and you just sit back and expect God to deliver you, then you will fail.

I believe in accountability partners - "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed..." (James 5:16 NASB)

I believe in programs - Having a plan and a biblically based program that can walk you through the process and hook you up with other people and resources is of utmost importance. www.settingcaptivesfree.com is one of the most helpful for addictions that I've found. I highly recommend it!

I believe in using your strength - "...Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness." (Romans 6:19 TNIV) Put the same amount of time and energy into feasting on God's Word, praying, and righteous living as you used to put into indulging the flesh, gratifying the passions of the body and mind in your addiction.

All of these things are necessary strategies and tools to use. Anyone serious about overcoming an addiction and being set free from their sins will want to avail themselves to every possible resource. However, there is no substitute for Christ. Apart from him, all attempts at victory will miserably fail! Don't put the cart in front of the horse! Let Christ be your strength in overcoming habitual sins. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36 NKJV)

Pray this prayer:
Father, I realize that no one forces me to engage in these habitual sins. It is a choice that I make when presented with something that attracts me. I have conditioned myself to yield to this temptation through repeatedly yielding in the past. I know that you have the power and the resources to set me free. Please strengthen my will and help me to stop this wrong behavior. You promise that through your Son, Jesus Christ, I can do all things, including overcome this habitual sin. I purpose to confess and forsake this sin and do whatever it takes with Your help to gain and maintain ongoing victory over sin for Your glory! Amen.