Overcome Porn: The 40 Day Challenge Sample

Day 14: What’s better than porn?

We’re a little over a third of the way through Overcome Porn: The 40 Day Challenge, and today we are shifting gears. We’ve been talking about the importance of running from sin and temptation. But we also must run to something else.

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “The pursuit of purity is not about the suppression of lust, but about the reorientation of one’s life to a larger goal.” Truly, our Christian faith is not a suppression of our desires, but a redirecting of them. And what are we redirecting our passion and overall life towards? Christ and holiness!

2 Timothy 2:22 says in addition to fleeing youthful passions, we should “pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.” In our redirection towards Christ and holiness, let us include righteousness, faith, love, and peace in our pursuit. We must seek to align our will with God’s will–to be his disciples, which calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus, and to give our full “yes” even in the most difficult of moments when we are being tempted, lured, pulled, or pushed to what is contrary to God and his will, which is ultimately for our good (Romans 8:28).

Again, don’t just flee from temptation. Flee to Christ by pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace. The pursuit of purity is about the reorientation of our life to focus on what our larger goal is–to know and love Jesus more.

If we don’t understand that this process isn’t suppression but a brand-new direction, then our freedom from porn will only be skin-deep.

Action Step

Watch this video from Christian musician Jimmy Needham about how he finally experienced freedom from the grip of pornography.

Reflection

What part of Jimmy’s story stood out to you the most? How do you relate to his experiences?