Porn a gift & a curse???

I have to disagree that addiction, or any problem for that matter, is a test from God. I just don't believe he intentionally puts hardships in our lives just to "test" us. My God is not that kind of God. He does however, take struggles, addiction, etc. and use it for good. You are right, overcoming it does strengthen us, teach us, change our outlook. But I have to disagree that God just decided to say here Chris, have a porn addiction, let's see how strong you are.

 

I do think things build character and giving up any addiction is one of those things.
Some people get tough by joining the army, I've gotten tough by going thru several different addictions
and horrible depression and overcoming(most of them).
It's like good and evil, you probaly wouldn't appreciate the experience of good as much if there wasn't the contrast of evil. I do think ignorance is bliss, but it's also weakness and some challenges we can be thankful for only after we see the big picture.

 

gift? a gift brings joy.

porn is a disease - like cancer. it destroys the brain and the soul.

porn is definitely not a gift. we watch it because we are weak.

the lust inside us is too strong and it makes us to slaves.

weak people need porn - strong people dont need porn.

 

thumbs up!

in first case porn is escaping - escaping from real life and responsibility.

it converts us into emotional-cripples. i am living like a cripple now.

all girls are sexobjects for me. dont know how to change this mindset - it is anchored extremely.

 

Everyone is free of believing what they feel is the best for themselves.

Personally, I don't believe that Porn is a Gift of God. God can't give as a gift something that cause so many problems for people, just as I don't believe diseases, poverty, and famine are gifts.

On the other hand, i feel that what is God Gift is the strength and the chance of being aware the damages that porn has made into us, and the willpower to keep fighting against it. That certainly is a gift that God is giving to us.

I agree with Chris, my God is not a God of testing, or one that puts rocks into our paths to make it more difficult. We are the ones that Choose (Freewill) one path or the other. He gives us the strength to overcome our mistakes, and embrace our goodness.

 

God does not tempt. That is the devil. God does test, but that doesn't involve being tempted to sin.

 

Interesting perspective and discussion.

 

i knew smoking weed is not good - but i did it many times because it made me feel good for some hours.
i knew drinking alcohol is not good - but i did it many times because it made me feel good for some hours.
i knew visiting prostitutes or watching porn is not good - but i did it many times because it made me feel good for some hours.

all this bad habits have consequences. i know that - but i was too weak to stop in the past.

now i am ready to pay the bills - and i know this fight will or must be hard.

we have the choice how to act! no one is forcing us to do this kind of damage to ourselves.

we have the choice between good habits and bad habits.

 

You're right on this and I do not believe in predestination but don't forget James 1:2-4. The tests we face will make us better people. It will create endurance in us that no one else will have.

Aside from everyone picking apart your original paragraph @KingRecover15 I think that was one of the most positive posts I've read on here in a while. Pmo addiction is shame based. It makes us feel terrible and keeps us in a never ending loop of acting out. When we seek forgiveness and repent, we can then receive the blessing of endurance and look back at how we overcame this sickness as the positive. Once you acknowledge that you are powerless to pmo and require the help of a higher power (whatever that may be for you) to overcome it, only then will you be successful.

And it's a long long road to that, but your post is very encouraging to think of the thought process we will have after being in recovery many years from now.

 

It's the same strategy of 12 step. It was adopted by AA decades ago and has helped thousands of people quit drugs and alcohol. It works for sex addicts too and if you go to a SA meeting the first 3 steps help you realize how powerful that reasoning is with your recovery.

 

i want to agree with this statement - but sometimes the urge is extrem strong - so resisting is fighting against it.

in my opinion this is a fight against the own deformed nature. this deformation happened in ten years (in my case).

i think the stage of "peace with yourself" will come after about one year (i hope so). there cant be peace with this extrem emotional ups and downs caused by stopping every kind of sexual release.

 

i tried every single technique to overcome urges. since i started this journey i have strong cramps in the head. my brain is begging for porn and alcohol. imagine i am quitting my most intense habit.

with this cramps meditation does not work correct. i feel like a time bomb.

but we stray from the topic.

porn was harmless in the beginning. once in a month. no big deal. but with time the obsession mutated into a porn-monster which destroyed my inner life. again: PORN IS NOT REALITY! LIFE IS NOT PORN!

sex belongs to life but there are also many other things which life offers.

porn is not a gift - porn is poison.