this could be the turning point in your
journey but first let me share a little
bit about mine the first time that i was
exposed to sexually charged content was
when i was about 11 or 12 years old i
was just given my first ipod but i was
just scrolling randomly and a
compilation of super bowl commercials
was there it looked interesting to me i
clicked on it and from there i was
exposed to all sorts of sexually charged
content from then on i kind of searched
out more of these type of videos i knew
it was wrong at the same time i didn't
really have any self-control at this
point i would have considered myself a
christian but i never experienced this
kind of temptation before and i didn't
really have a box to put it in i didn't
realize what it was doing to me i was
plagued by guilt and shame so much of
the day i went to a youth conference and
they talked about the strongholds in our
lives and how they'll hold us back from
serving god faithfully it was in that
moment where i was like i need to do
something about this and the only thing
that i could think of that might help is
talking to my dad so one night as i was
just plagued by guilt i could still
remember this vividly i couldn't sleep
it was probably like one o'clock at
night and i walked into my dad's mom and
dad's bedroom and i look at my dad and i
said hey can i talk to you from then on
i left my ipod with him during the night
and so i wasn't tempted i think for a
lot of us this kind of season of life 11
12 13 maybe earlier for some folks marks
the beginning of being exposed to kind
of sexually charged content and
beginning this battle with lust now fast
forward about 10 years i'm 23 and though
temptation definitely still rears its
ugly ahead i began to find real victory
in this area of my life over the last
few years i know what it's like to feel
that guilt and that shame and that
discouragement that comes from falling
once again and yet i can also testify to
the fact that freedom is available but
here's a big problem that we all need to
come to terms with we live in a
pornographic culture we are continually
assaulted by music media movies social
media that is charged with sexuality and
it's tempting and we can't just live as
a monk or maybe some people do maybe you
can i don't know i can't
but we need to know how to operate in
this space so i want to share some of
what has helped me and actually make
headway in finding freedom in matthew 26
41 jesus gives us two steps that are
extremely important to take as we're
looking to overcome temptation here they
are watch and pray that you may not
enter into temptation the spirit indeed
is willing but the flesh is weak so what
does jesus mean by watch well to be
alert to be aware to be discerning do
those three words categorize your
approach in your daily life i think for
a long time honestly i pretended to be
ignorant of a lot of the sexuality that
was kind of embedded in what i was
watching and taking in i just kind of
like pretended like it wasn't affecting
me or wasn't an issue i wasn't being
alert aware or discerning for us we need
to begin by becoming aware of what is
going to trigger us to fall into
temptation so this is where it gets kind
of intense and a lot of people will back
off because they're like oh that's too
extreme oh it's not that big a deal oh i
can handle it i'm strong enough
you're not you're not strong enough so
if you're on instagram let's say
head to your following who are you
following and who are the people that
tempt you seriously and you need to stop
following them and now that should just
be like a no-brainer at the same time
we're like well i'm following them for
their music or they're a good actor and
i like their movies it's like no it's
not worth it and i'm gonna go to the
extent to say even a friend that posts
risque instagram pictures that tempt you
to look lustfully look you should not be
following that person i'm sorry i went
through my instagram following i
unfollowed everyone that tempted me even
if they were a good musician that i
really liked or um you know a movie star
that i wanted to keep up on what the you
know what they were up to it's like no i
don't want to be tempted i'm just not
going to have that on my feed also
tick-tock if you're on tick-tock you
should probably get off but for me i'm
on there and pretty much every time i
see something that tempts me or you know
some sexually charged content i block
them immediately without hesitation it's
become a routine now and so every time
like i just get used to it you know oh
no block sorry it's done like i'm not
even gonna think about it i'm not gonna
risk seeing this person again or seeing
their content again i don't want it i
stopped watching edgy movies for a while
in my teen years i felt like i was
mature enough that i could handle it
that the movies that i wasn't allowed to
watch as a kid now i'm like 16 17 oh
yeah i can watch all like the classics
or whatever and honestly it wasn't worth
it it really wasn't the movies weren't
that good and also it like got my mind
thinking in thought patterns that i
didn't like it just felt icky and so now
i'm just free of that i just don't watch
that stuff i'm like i'm not interested
and for going to theaters i'm going to
common sense i'm seeing is there like
sexualities or nudity it's like i just
don't want it for me it was little
pieces here or there on social media
that was kind of getting my heart
prepared to fall into sexual immorality
it was like oh here's a little piece
here a little piece there oh accept that
oh okay that's not so bad or that's not
you know but it's getting you to this
place where you're being triggered to
fall that much more into lust and so me
like you need to i need to cut it off at
ground level that's what i've come to
the conclusion you can't kind of go
halfway on this stuff god cares about
the thought life too and so as we're
thinking about the thought life we need
to go back to ground level like what are
the little things in my life that i'm
letting kind of creep in that's causing
me to move further and further down this
dark path step two the second part of
the verse watch and pray so pray in
thessalonians it talks about pray
without ceasing and this is especially
important as we're encountering and
facing these temptations in our lives if
we're not praying without ceasing like
if we're not praying throughout this
we're doing it on our own and willpower
is not going to cut it like in that
second part of that verse it says the
spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
and if you've been in this battle for
any length of time you know that your
flesh is weak and you've experienced
that part of the reason that we don't
take little bits here and there thinking
that we're strong enough to overcome oh
this little bit of temptation or i can
watch this movie because i'm i'm a
strong enough christian it's like no the
flesh is weak we need to come to realize
this when we talk about prayer and in
the midst of the battle that i've
experienced i'm asking god for
deliverance god deliver me from this
temptation something else that i'm doing
as well is i'm listening to him
my justifications of why i think it's
okay that i you know watch this thing or
you know whatever else it is it's like
okay well god you know i feel like maybe
i deserve it because most the other time
i'm a good christian so um you know
that's why i feel like and just
verbalizing those things to god and
actually kind of dispelling them with
biblical truth thing but i know that's
not true because you hate sin and you
you know you've given me the power to
overcome this through your power and
presence in my life and you died for
this sin and just kind of preaching
truth to yourself in the midst of that
prayer and asking god to give you
deliverance from that that can be a
freeing experience what i've noticed is
these kind of justifications at least in
my own life are kind of the primary
force that leads me into temptation that
leads me to submit to these kind of
temptations is saying you know oh i'm a
good christian it's just one time or i
deserve it or things like that these are
lies that i'm believing lord show me
your truth in colossians 3 5 it says put
to death therefore what is earthly in
you sexual immorality impurity passions
evil desires and covetousness which is
idolatry you we need to put to death
this sin this is like very clear in the
scriptures but how do we do that well
we're going to confront it we're going
to identify what it is we're going to
stop making excuses or justifications
for why we do it we're gonna be honest
with ourselves and what we're gonna do
and what i've done is verbalize it to
other people hey this is a temptation
that i experience hey this is something
i'm struggling with and be you know
clear and intentional about who you
share this stuff with like there's a
couple friends in my life or family
members that know this about me that
know that i kind of struggle in this
area that this is a temptation for me
and you know we keep up to date on it
but when you keep it inside you give it
a little place in your heart you're not
putting it to death you're kind of
keeping it in storage till you need it
and that's definitely not what the bible
says we definitely don't want to keep
sins in storage we want to put them to
death galatians 5 16 says but i say walk
by the spirit and you will not gratify
the desires by the flesh this is
something we miss so often this guy's
kind of goes hand in hand with the whole
prayer aspect and praying without
ceasing look if we're simply trying to
overcome lust on our own strength or
just trying to you know subtract
something from our life we're going to
have a big issue but if we are walking
in accordance with the spirit if we're
pursuing christ right it's going to be a
natural occurrence to put away those
things put away who we once were because
that doesn't align with who we are
becoming if you want to put your sin to
death what you need to do is you need to
starve it out you need to stop feeding
it you're giving it morsels here and
there that's sustaining it till it's
finally strong enough where it can take
hold of you you need to stop feeding it
to put a cap on my journey and i guess
where i'm going from here yes i still
struggle with it i'm still tempted by it
i've found freedom but at the same time
i'm not getting overconfident because i
am still tempted i do see these things
and i'm okay you know in this moment i
need to make this decision lord help me
through this you know deliver me from
this temptation and so um yeah you when
you find freedom when you begin to find
freedom there can be this excitement and
this like okay this is really working
this is really happening i'm so like
thrilled and excited and there's a sense
of relief but don't let up don't let up
still be aware alert and discerning of
what you're consuming and pray without
ceasing and god his covering is over you
he is more than powerful to deliver you
from this
and i'm excited for each one of you as
you watch this video and go from here
into this kind of next stage of your
life where you're continuing to pour
into christ and put sin to death this
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god bless