Quiet Mike struggled with pornography, like so many men and women do. After his girlfriend found out and told him she just didn't know if they'd survive this, he resolved to change his ways. It wasn't easy, having been deep in it, unchecked for 12 years.
After reading tons of blogs and a couple books, and being part of an accountability group, he was winning more than losing.
Now that he was fighting this enemy, he was getting to know it, and know himself. He was starting to recognize things like when they would attack. It would usually happen when he was tired, angry or hungry and he learned to take appropriate precautions during those times. He strategically threw away old phones and power cords to game stations as soon as he was tempted to use them as a doorway. He even spent less time with a few friends that just talked about sex all the time. He joined a support group, Sexaholics Anonymous.
Eventually he had effectively vanquished pornography. Too bad it wasn't before his girlfriend dumped him.
But now he had built skills and had new strategies and understandings, and even new community support that he never had before.
Mike was devastated his slavery to sin had lost him a girl he loved. But he was grateful he had finally escaped such a dangerous beast. He eventually started dating again and married a woman who was glad to hear pornography was a thing of his past. He thought that was the extent of the benefits. Until one day he had coffee with a friend.
It was one of his oldest friends and now accountability brothers. He told Quiet Mike, "You know, Mike? You've always been nice. But now you are so much more humble, aware, and internally strong than I've ever seen you. You've built a great supportive community around you too. You're mentoring people to help them escape what you were caught in. God has done a lot more than just help get porn out of your life. He's made you into a great man."
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Sometimes our struggles toward vanquishing sin in our lives, whatever form it comes in, not only makes us sin less, it makes us more beautiful and strong as well. And sometimes I think becoming beautiful and strong is the purpose of righteousness, not simply sinning less.
Raw Spoon, 3-2-21
