HOW TO GET RID OF A PORN OR SEX ADDICTION 

When porn/sex has become your master, then you have become its slave. It will take everything from you that you will let it take, then it will continue to take other things.

God has an overwhelming love for you. But we often put up a wall between ourselves and God and shut Him out. Over the next 29 days we will discover how to break down that wall so that you can experience God and be fully aware of His love.

It takes 18 to 254 days to form a new habit. I will repeat many things many times in this 40-day program. If you develop a habit of saying certain statements multiple times each day your thinking will change. Then your habits will change. The more you embrace this repetition the stronger your control over your addiction will become.

Change Your Focus

Let’s look in on people who have decided to quit to see what they are doing. Bill is focusing on reading more to replace his addiction. What activities would be good for you?

Lisa went to church last Sunday and she has plans with a new “platonic” girlfriend tonight. She is also thinking about how daily Bible reading might be good for her.

Jim is starting a journal and filling it with ideas about quitting.

Mike keeps forgetting about the destruction his addiction has caused him so he plans to say to himself at least twice today: porn (and out of control sex) have caused me destruction and pain, they have in the past and they will in the future.

To get rid of a bad habit say three times every day: “This temptation will go away if I don’t act on it. If I give in it will return and it may be even stronger next time. If I don’t give in it will go away and someday it will go away for good. I have the self-control to change”. We will discuss the proof of this theory later.

When porn/sex has become your master, then you have become its slave. It will take everything from you that you will let it take, then it will continue to take other things.

I believe that following God’s ways bring joy into our lives.

If you don’t believe in God currently that is OK. If He is real, He will show Himself to you if you really seek Him. But it is very important that you are open to the possibility of God. If He is the Truth and the life then we really can’t flourish without Him.

For me, I have found that I have more joy and real love in my life when I try to do things God’s way. Even if you struggle to believe what I say is true – you can still try it. Just ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.

GET RID OF A PORN OR SEX ADDICTION BY RENEWING YOUR MIND

It’s amazing how powerful your subconscious mind is. Every single time you do a new positive activity, your subconscious programs it into your brain. The more you do it, the more entrenched the program becomes. It becomes a habit that helps start to squeeze out bad habits.  Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Our Actions do shape who we are.

Today: Jan is struggling with temptations so she decides to make a Relapse Prevention Card to Take with her:

An Example Relapse Prevention Card

The Four Ds

1. Delay – Since cravings come in waves if you can delay making a relapse decision for as little as 20 minutes, you’ll generally find the cravings dissipate on their own.
2. Distract – Craving time passes more quickly when engaged in a distracting activity for a few minutes.
3. Deep breathing – Deep breathing exercises help you maintain calm and purpose when cravings hit, keeping you from making rash decisions.
4. Drink a glass of water – It’s healthy relaxing and it makes you feel better.

Instructions

Fold a paper into four squares:

1. On the first square, write out The Four Ds
2. On the second square, write out 5 or 10 personally relevant distraction ideas
3. On the third square, write out 3 or 4 of your most significant reasons for wanting to avoid falling
4. On the fourth square, write out some negative expectations -accurate predictions for what will happen if you slip and fall.

Negative Expectations – When you’re about to relapse you tend to focus on positive expectations and gloss over negative expectations.

Some examples of positive expectations are:

• “I’d have such a good time if I did a few lines and went out dancing.” Or “I am so stressed right now– a little action would really relax me…”

Some examples of negative expectations are:

• “If I fall tonight I will be tired at work and will reap destruction.” Or “If I start doing porn I won’t stop until I am stressed out and depressed.”

By writing down accurate negative expectation statements you provide a counter-balance for the positive expectation statements your addicted mind manufactures all on its own.

Consider how daily Bible reading may be good for your life. Break your old habits and routines by writing out what activities you will do today – add them to your notebook and see how many of them you can accomplish.

“We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think we can.”
George Matthew Adams Overcoming Addiction Quote

Tip: avoid things like “erotic literature,” sexy YouTube videos, Victoria’s Secret catalogs.

Every day write down which day you just finished so that you can keep track of where to start tomorrow.

Write tips on how to quit in a notebook.

Reboot and rewire your brain by determining to think about Spiritual things and new activities 15 times today. If you have nothing to do make it 50 times. You will at some point become what you think about.

Viacharacter.org noted: “Prudence means being careful about your choices, stopping and thinking before acting. It is a strength of restraint. When you are prudent, you are not taking unnecessary risks, and not saying or doing things that you might later regret. If you are high in prudence, you are able to consider the long-term consequences of your actions.”

#1 Being careful. What do you keep feeding into your phone. A-I will spit back out what you keep clicking on. I am a YouTube watcher. I try to never click on things like bikini girls or, sexy movie stars because if I do, YouTube will keep recommending them to me.

#2 Stopping and thinking before acting. Wrong acting gives darkness for the week and maybe the month. Wrong acting gives unknown destruction, but there will be some. Wrong acting steals your chance at joy, purpose, peace and many other things. Consider having a few “Stop and think,” notes in places where you often are.

#3 Strength of restraint. Try saying 100 times daily for the next two days:

“I can stop. I will stop.”

Simply repeating it increases our restraint and determination.

#4 Long-term consequences. Doing things God’s way causes great long-term consequences. Doing things satans way involves short-term fun and disastrous long-term consequences. Consider which one leads to a great life.

Finally, consider making habits that involve prudence. It is a wise decision.

Consider praying: “Lord, I will trust in You.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aVFVveJNs

If this article has helped you, share it with your friends. Share buttons are below the index.

Thank you for reading day 2 of this program: quitting porn or sex addiction.

Index

Day one:  overcoming cravings