Sexual Addiction

It starts with a single picture . . . a single sexual image that pops onto the computer screen . . . and before long, you’re ensnared, entrapped in a complex, all-consuming web of sexual addiction. You’re undeniably stuck—you look around and all you see, all you think about, is sex. You’re obsessed with erotic excitement, continually contemplating where and when you’ll feed your sexual appetite.

Like an alcoholic who craves alcohol, you crave sex—you must have sexual stimulation. But there’s another side to what is called “sexual addiction.” What stimulates also brings shame…with the fear you’ll never find your way out of the web.

Why am I stuck in this web of shame and mixed feelings?
Is this how God intended things to be?

God created sexuality and blessed it within the context of marriage. And He can help you break free of the binding web that keeps your mind captive. He can give you the strength to break free from the web, and He can replace harmful passions with healthy passions.

Even if you feel that your mind and your heart have been too defiled, remember that God is a Redeemer—a Deliverer! There is no willing soul that He can’t make clean….

“You, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”
(Psalm 116:8-9)

Q & A: Sexual Desire vs. Lust

Question:
“At what point does the normal sexual desire turn into lust?”

Answer:
It is natural to be attracted to someone, but unnatural to sexualize a person. When your mind moves from normal attraction …to consuming passion to do a sexually-impure act, then you experience lust.

• The moment you are tempted,  take control of your thoughts and your desires.
•  Rein in your thoughts and pray, “Lord, I refuse to go down a road that leads to lust. I am committed to sexual purity in my mind as well as in my body.” The Bible says…

“Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:12)

Q & A:Nudity and Porn

Question:
“Since God created the human body as sexual, what’s wrong with nudity and pornography?”

Answer:
God ordained human sexuality for intimacy in marriage and for procreation, while pornography and the nudity found in it is designed simply to arouse indiscriminate sexual lust.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

From God’s Word

“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Romans 13:13-14)

More verses: Hebrews 13:4; Exodus 23:2; Proverbs 17:24; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17