Written by Evi Idoghor
People may wonder how true it is when they hear the bold statement: Pornography is your enemy. It's a common myth that pornography helps married people find more pleasure with sex. According to this narrative, porn removes boredom from the bedroom and introduces spiciness. Others who partake in it may see it as a safety net, a comfort, a void filler, or a means to an end. Whatever your motivation for viewing pornography or sexual imagery, I hope you discover that pornography is not on your side.
It is no surprise that the pornography industry is as lucrative as it is because the human mind has always been curious about sex – sex is how most of us got here, and as such, pornography promises all forms of sexual liberation and enjoyment, luring its victims to believe the façade that those who play the roles in its depraved motion picture do so on their own terms; thus causing the consumers to be free of any guilt.
I recently came across a YouTube video in which a young lady shared her ordeal of being trafficked to do pornography. She was beaten, raped, and filmed without her permission. She has since obtained justice through the courts, with her perpetrators imprisoned. She is however, not the only one who has gone through this. And unfortunately, if regular people like you and me continue to consume pornography, many more will be forced into this industry. Once there is a market for it, there will be a supply and not just by “consenting adults.”
What does God think about Pornography?
If you are a Christian, that means you have been called to a higher standard of living. In Matthew 5, Jesus addressed his disciples in his famous sermon known as The Sermon on the Mount. There, he covered a variety of societal issues, including anger, lust, and divorce, among others. On addressing the issue of lust, he said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Then he went on to say, “If your right hand causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body be thrown into hell.”
We can conclude from this scripture that if Jesus is equating lustful desires with the sin of adultery, then he is certainly not going to condone Christians consuming pornography and even sexual imagery, which is now so prevalent on social media platforms. If your Google search or personal social media is littered with sexual imagery, now is the time to do some deep cleaning and get rid of everything that offends God. God has called both men and women to have pure hearts like him. He desires for us to treat others as we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12). He has charged us with loving our neighbors as we do ourselves (Matthew 22:39).
No one in their right mind would want anyone linked to them to be trafficked into the pornography industry and forced to do depraved things for the entertainment of others. No one in their right mind would wish for their son or daughter (or siblings) to engage in pornography (even on their own volition) just so they can have pornography to watch.
Think about it, if someone close to you appeared on your screen in a pornographic movie, would you watch it? If the answer is no, then why would you watch someone else’s child in that manner? Thus, if we are to obey God's laws as God's children, we must value others more than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). The best interests of others should take precedence over our own.
Why We Should Reject Pornography
Pornography portrays a depraved picture of how natural human connections should be. It objectifies humans, reducing them to things devoid of soul or worth. It contributes to the formation of unrealistic expectations about what sexual relations should be between a husband and a wife. As a result, one or both parties may be conditioned to believe that their partner's sole purpose is to satisfy their sexual desires. Sex, which is born of love, was never meant to exist apart from it.
Pornography is not love – it is not patient, it is not kind, it is envious, boastful, arrogant, and rude. It insists on its own way, it is irritable, and resentful. It rejoices at wrongdoing, and its showrunners are in it for one thing – to line their pockets. Some people commit suicide after escaping the clutches of the porn industry, possibly because of the shame and trauma they have endured. There are those who remain in the porn industry and still end their lives, perhaps because of the pain and degradation they suffer. Whilst I know this is not “everyone’s” story, surely you would not want to be a part of something that serves no one else but the bank accounts of the people running the show.
How Can I Get Free?
Finally, if you are struggling with a porn addiction, God can help you. How do I know this? Because he helped me. He set me free from what held me bound me for years, and since 2015, I have not looked back. In the early months/years after I stopped indulging in pornography, I would still get tempted. However, the thought that my fellow woman, might be trafficked to fulfil my lustful desire, also helped me avoid that mess. To this day, I still remove from my social media pages those who post sensual images, or sexual content, because I know how easily the enemy can entice a person to go back to what God has set them free from.
So, if you are addicted, pray to God for help, get rid of anything that might trigger your desire to watch porn, and talk to trusted people who can help and hold you accountable. What we may not realize is that all these images are gradually conditioning us by altering our appetite for what real sex with real people (who do not sit around having sex all day) should be. God created sex and relationships to mean more than what the enemy is perverting them to be. Pornography has destroyed marriages (and relationships), destroyed children's innocence, led to murder, suicide, and the incarceration of people.
Certainly, you don’t want to keep being a part of what seeks to destroy many - you don't want to be friends with what has declared war with you. 2 Corinthians 6:14 asks - What fellowship has light with darkness? As Christians, we are light as Jesus calls us in Matthew 5:14. Thus, let us live as such and help others do same.
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