Overcome Porn: The 40 Day ChallengeSample

The million-dollar question every addict has is this: How do I make it stop? We can only be set free when we receive a profound new identity—a new definition of ourselves. Only the risen Christ can do this.

For Paul, the resurrection of Christ was a watershed moment in the universe. When Christ died and rose from death, “he died to sin, once for all” (Rom. 6:10). This fact is at the heart of Paul’s argument in Romans 6, so we can’t miss it. 

Between the resurrection and return of Christ, God does not leave us hanging.  Paul says to believers that we have been “united” to Christ. We are united to the one who has died to sin, the one who now experiences resurrection life. The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is in us, giving life to our mortal bodies (8:11).

Our relationship to our old master, Sin, is profoundly severed because the Spirit of the living Christ is in us.

Make Each Part of Your Body a Weapon for Holiness

We do this through the daily choice—the moment-by-moment choice—to become an instrument in God’s hands.

• Rather than give our hands to pixels on the screen, we give our hands to God to do useful work (Eph. 4:28) and to lift them to God in prayer (1 Tim. 2:8).
• Rather than give our feet to sin to walk over to our laptop for comfort, we present our feet to God to carry the good news to others (Rom. 10:15).
• Rather than giving our eyes to one more online seduction, we open our eyes to really see the needs around us so we can give generously to others (Matt. 6:22-23).

Porn no longer needs to enslave us because our old ruling desires no longer define us. We have been given a profoundly new identity in Christ. 

Reflection

• Think through your average day. What masters do you feel like you’re serving? Your overly-rigid schedule? Pornography? (If you sincerely feel like you’re serving Jesus, great! Just list out ways you see him as your master so it’s not just a Sunday School answer.)
• How does knowledge of the Resurrection give you hope for your own struggles with temptation?