In my daily work with people, especially fathers, I continue
to encounter problems with pornography.
As a moral society, we are losing this battle for the souls of men, and I
am disheartened. Yet, I know there is a
way out!
Let’s talk about pornography.
Why is pornography such a troublesome issue, especially for
men? Why is pornography so effective in
derailing men & boys in the pursuit of feeling the spirit, keeping the hand
to the plow, and pressing towards the mark?
Well, here is my perspective discussed in my workshop on the power of
pornography.
I love to garden. In
a well-organized garden, there is symmetry and order that is pleasing to the
eye, but this symmetry is also essential to healthy plant growth. One time I was planting vegetables and I had
one of those plows that has a wheel and handles (you know the one)
I was trying to put in rows of beets, or chard, or
something. As I read the back of the
seed packet, I saw that the seeds should be planted in rows about eighteen
inches apart. I placed wooden stakes at
each end of the proposed rows with the designated space between the rows. In this particular garden, my rows were about
twenty feet long. I started to push that
plow to form the rows. As I went, I
would keep my eyes on the post ahead of me.
When I reached the end of the row, I turned to look back down the row
and sure enough it was straight.
This continued for some time and the rows continued to be
straight. Pretty soon, I noticed that my
cat was wandering around the garden. It started rubbing against my leg looking
for attention. When I ignored the cat,
it began to find other things to do such as chase field mice and chew on the
grass. In the clear spring day, my mind
began to wander as I watched the cat and the things going on around me. I found that as my gaze and attention
wandered, my rows became crooked. I took
my eye off the mark. Soon I found that
my nice symmetrical garden rows were ruined because I became distracted from my
purpose.
So what about pornography?
The scriptures teach us to keep our hand to the plow and our eye on the
mark. That is the plan. As Disciples of Christ, we must be focused on
the prize of everlasting life through the Atonement of Christ.
What is Satan’s plan then?
Satan would distract us with the shiny and the carnal. For many men that is pornography. Is pornography attractive? Sure it is.
Satan would not tempt us with things that are NOT pleasurable. Satan does not aim to make us miserable at
first (being miserable is his longer term goal for us). Miserable is not very attractive is it? Satan distracts with the pleasurable as a
counterfeit for true happiness.
This
circular pattern or cycle is initially accompanied by feelings of guilt and
shame. Satan brings us both feelings of
fleeting pleasure while at the same time brings us feelings of worthlessness
and shame. Eventually we become
desensitized to the Spirit and any hope of escape under our own power is lost. It is only through Christ that we can break
this cycle and get back on the path.
Paul offers some helpful insight in Galatians Chapter
5:16-26
This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so
that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell
you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no
law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Pornography causes men to lose sight of the mark and to
remove their hand from the plow. What
does this do? This removes us from the
spirit and we begin to deaden ourselves to its influence. Pornography becomes the noise that is louder
than the spirit.
Does Satan have us then?
If Satan can separate us from the spirit, he can get us in a
spiral that we cannot get out of without help.
Are you addicted to pornography?
Is your answer “No, I view pornography but I am not addicted, I can stop
anytime.” I say you are a liar! Or you soon
will prove yourself to be! Once you get
on the path of pornography, you are not likely to get off without help. You may not have been on the path long, so
you do not think you are addicted. But I
say to you who serve in your churches or work in jobs that depend on your good
judgment and wisdom, YOU WILL LOSE THE SPIRIT IF YOU CONTINUE. THEN WHERE WILL YOU BE? How can you in good conscience lead others
when you do not have access to inspiration?
Pornography (among other things) is a way that Satan
counterfeits true happiness with pleasure.
If you struggle with pornography, consider sharing your
secret with someone you trust who can help you through it. There any many helps and ways to mitigate
this deviant, seductive, and destructive tool of Satan.
Satan’s distraction to real progress: what I call the
Episodic Pleasure Cycle gets you spinning in circles not moving forward: (Check out Lehi’s & Nephi’s thoughts
about evil and Satan’s methods in 2 Ne 1:13; 2:29; & 28:22. For those of you without a copy of the book
of Mormon, you can Google these references or go to
https://www.lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng )
Workshops on Pornography and the Episodic Pleasure Cycle
being scheduled now. Email or call for
specifics.
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