Building an Offense to prevent pornography addiction
The War of the Soul Method focusses recovery on three areas:
The Journey of the Heart: Understanding what lies beneath the struggle.
Building a Defense: Putting structure into place to prevent relapse and give space for healing to occur.
Building an Offense: Focus on establishing a purpose for life that is bigger than addiction.
Building an Offense
Trying not to sin is a difficult way to walk the recovery journey. A much better focus is to pursue what God has designed and created you for. Building an Offense is about discovering what your life is about. Don’t just put off sin, put on your unique calling and purpose.
“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
— Romans 6:13
Living with Purpose to Prevent Pornography Addiction
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In Hebrews chapter 12 we are told that we must run the race that has been set before us.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1–2, ESV)
But we must first lay aside every weight, and sin, which clings to us. If you want to run a race, you must set aside everything that will hold you back.
Sexual sin is a weight that prevents the Christian from engaging in their God-given calling. We must help the addict connect with their greater calling and purpose, so that they will lay aside their pornography addiction.
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Our physical health is directly tied to our spiritual and emotional health. We cannot neglect our physical discipline and expect to be spiritually sharp.
Eating well, sleeping well, and exercise provide the body with the energy and strength it needs to win the war against the soul.
The life of integrity is a life of discipline. You must build key disciplines into your life if you desire to live in integrity. Here are 5 key disciplines to build: https://youtu.be/JnuUTcj_Pqk
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It’s very hard to stop thinking about something. But the beauty of your brain is that we are not designed for multi-tasking. So how can we refrain from sexual thoughts and guard our thought life against fantasy? By building a habit of Scripture memory.
It’s much easier to actively pursue thinking about something else. We must replace our impure thoughts with better thoughts. This is where Scripture memory becomes a game-changer for your thought life. Scripture memory becomes an offense, a focus, a method for filling your mind with the truths of Scripture and replacing the impure thoughts of pornography addiction.
Here are some of the brain changing benefits of Scripture memory: https://youtu.be/g18kDKBEMZI
Here’s a quick tutorial on how to memorize Scripture: https://youtu.be/c8aVkbP5Fyk
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Our offense is about what we will replace pornography addiction with. Something must fill the void of our time, energy, and thoughts if we are going to eliminate sexually addictive behavior. The Scripture gives us the put-off, put-on principle, where we see that we must build an offense of a new focus.
Ephesians 4 is filled with this principle.
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:25–29, ESV)
Someone who was living a life of stealing must now live a life of giving. This is redemption. For the porn addict, who once was taking from others and using them for his own personal pleasure, he can now build his life around serving others. He can use his time and energy to love, serve, and protect. This is the redemption of the Gospel. It’s radical transformation. It’s the offense we need to live the life of sexual integrity.
Living with Purpose
How can we pursue living with purpose? Is your free time used mostly for entertainment? You must use your time according to what God has called you to do. Is free time for you a blessing or a curse? If free time leads you to doing what you don't want to do, then you haven't answered the fundamental question of, "What is my purpose?"
The Gospel is for the addict.
