Overcome Porn: The 40 Day Challenge Sample

Day 13: How to take your thoughts captive

Over the last 12 days, we’ve been talking about the first strategy mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:22: run from. We must flee from sin and temptation. This means:

• We need to cut away the things from our life that cause us to stumble.
• We need to know our triggers and have exit strategies.
• We need to flee from habits of isolation and secrecy.
• We need to know who we are harming. That includes our own brains and bodies, those around us, and the performers who are being sexually exploited.

In order to make all these strategies effective, we need to renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2). We need to really listen to the lies we tell ourselves and replace those lies with truth, for the truth is the beginning of our freedom (John 8:32).

Christian Counselor Rick Thomas explains we all are susceptible to false arguments that control our minds. These recurring thought patterns, if left unchecked, will dominate a person’s mind, to the point where they become what the argument says they are.

What lies keep the Gospel from dominating your thought life? Rick Thomas suggests running these thoughts through a Gospel filter:

1. Lies that distort the Gospel–I have to be perfect or earn God’s love.

You do not have to be perfect. If you try, you are rejecting the righteousness of Christ, choosing to hold up your own righteousness as the answer. Not accepting Christ’s righteousness is following your own Gospel of self-atonement (1 John 1:8). Jesus Christ died for you on the cross. There is no greater love than a man who will lay down his life for another. (Philippians 2:5-11, Romans 5:6-9, John 15:13)

2. Lies the world tells you–You must be true to yourself.

Living for yourself is a self-centered, anti-Christ way of thinking. You must be true to Christ. You are to die to yourself and fully trust another who knows better than you do.

3. Lies you say in your marriage–It’s your fault/I deserve better.

You will never be happy if things always go your way. Your self-centeredness will make you implode. Instead, be content as you learn how to be sufficient through Christ rather than your fleshly desires (Philippians 4:11-13).

By running from these lies and running to God, the power of sin can be broken.