Addicted to pornography for 10 years

I know how discouraging and painful this addiction is. I lived with it for a very long time. Too long! It is a corruption of beauty and human intimacy orchestrated by the devil. Fortunately for all of us, the devil is no match for God, not even close. God, knows we are susceptible to temptation and although He wishes we would not succumb, He is prepared to use our sinfulness for good. The miserable feelings of guilt and shame that you are feeling can be the impetus for your new life without this sin.

The route to rehabilitation is fueled by grace obtained through prayer and the Holy Sacraments. Sincere, heartfelt and frequent prayer. If you have not done so already, I recommend you start with a sincere, honest Confession and a vow to pray whenever you feel temptation. The devil doesn't want you to pray when tempted so bear that in mind when you aren't inclined to pray. Our lady is a great help in this so grab your rosary and pray with all of your heart for her advocacy.

Visit this forum often and let us know how you are doing. Help others by sharing what you learn and encourage us all to keep praying for you. Please pray for me too.

 

God is giving you a gift of discernment. Recognizing my complacency in regular heart-felt prayer was a big step towards rehabilitation. St. Paul said we should pray all of the time. I can't say that I have achieved that but I do find that when tempted, just saying Jesus's name, quietly with each inhale and exhale of my breath, helps me. Also, a quick but sincere prayer to the Holy Spirit asking Him to fight for me and to fight within me is very helpful to me.

When temptation is particularly strong, I have found that meditating on each stage of Our Precious Lord's passion never fails to provide some relief. Particularly when I consider the reasons for His sacrifice and then personalize them for me. Try this -

The Catechism teaches us that the Word became flesh for four reasons (lines 456 - 460) (1) God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins (2) The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love (3) The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: (4) The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature"

Now personalize each of these statements and consider them when considering Christ's incredible sacrifice (1) God who loves me and sent his Son to be the expiation of my sins (2) The Word became flesh so that thus I might know God's love (3) The Word became flesh to be my model of holiness (4) The Word became flesh to make me a partaker of the the divine nature.

 

Hello Thiago. You know the Way and you are on it. You can do it!. I pray for you. "A full year" is a lot. Falling a few times a year is not addiction, or is it something more frequent? Greetings.

 

I once confessed to my wife that I thought I was addicted to P. She dismissed the idea. I wanted to believe her and frankly that wasn't helpful. Rehabilitation begins by admitting the addiction and seeking God's help and help from others.

 

Ok... but, if I got drunk 5 times last year should I go to Alcoholics Anonymous?

 

I can't say. Only you can make that determination. There are functional drunks who can go months without a drink only to fall and binge for some length of time. My point stems from the belief that the most dangerous lies are frequently the ones we tell ourselves.

 

We all know that. I was never talking about that. We are on different topics. Greetings.

 

Pardon me if my words diverted from your point. Thank you for pointing it out. May God bless you.

 

100%. I have had addiction in other areas of life and a lot of the time it is what is going on in the mind that is important, in recovery circles it is sometimes refereed to as the obsession. Using alcohol as the example, a person might drink a few times a week and nobody thinks they are an alcoholic but they spend much of their time thinking and obsessing about when they are next going to drink. It applies to all addictions, gambling, sex, PMO as other examples.

On the flip side you can have someone who is a heavy drinker and drinks way too much but they don't spend so much time even thinking about it and if they have to quit they can just do it.

 

Our God uses our falls to lead us back to Him. The path is not an easy one but it is not an impossible one as long as we are determined to learn from each falter, stand up and go forward. Take comfort in the fact that you are doing just what God is leading you to do with a good confession and a determination to go forward and love God ever more deeply.