Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honour
1 Thessalonians 4:4
There are times in my life when it helps to spell things out in an oversimplified fashion. Somehow it enables me to get a handle on things. Perhaps this is one of those times. I realise we’ve covered an enormous amount of serious ground. Responding correctly is very important. So allow me to suggest several helpful ideas that have worked for others. I hope they will work for you as well. Here’s an A-BC-D plan of correction:
- Acknowledge. Hold nothing back as you acknowledge any and all impurity. The benefit of a full-on acknowledgment is that it will heal the distance between you and your Lord. Acknowledge the bondage. Acknowledge the involvement. Say it to your God. Then say it to somebody who can help you, not just to yourself. Acknowledge it to someone you respect. No struggle just quietly dissolves. The first step to victory is an admission of the battle.
- Break. I mean by this, break all connections. The benefit of this is that it stops the cycle. Unless connections are broken, the addiction won’t cease. The flesh dies hard. Stay away from pornography. If you have longstanding connections at distant places where you travel, break those ties. Toss out the little black book. Unless you make a break like this, the battle will continue to rage and you will become another casualty.
- Communicate. Express your need for others’ strength. The benefit is it will make you accountable. If you’ve never been accountable before, I suggest you make every effort to become part of a small group of people (of the same sex) where you can talk openly about the battle and the difficulties you live with. Perhaps your church offers adult fellowships or accountability groups. They are the lifeline to recovery and full restoration.
- Determine. Determine to abstain. You may have a past which is littered with incredible things that you would find embarrassing to admit even to a close friend. There is absolutely no reason to continue. Stop it today! The benefit is that it will free you to be all God meant you to be. Furthermore, it could save you from sure tragedy that could be just around the corner.
