Overcome Porn: The 40 Day Challenge Sample

Day 38: How the Gospel ties it all together

Over the last several weeks we’ve looked at three key strategies for overcoming lust according to 2 Timothy 2:22.

Properly understood, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation for all three of these strategies, because:

1. The Gospel reveals the wrath of God against lust.

Christ paid an enormous price for our lust, and this should change the way we see our sin: it exposes pornography as something repugnant, something we should want to flee.

Looking at the cross, all the ugliness of sin is exposed. The more we meditate on what Jesus endured on the cross—the curse of God—the more we will loathe our sin.

2. The Gospel reveals the love of God for sexually broken people.

In the fantasy world of porn, men and women are looking for refuge, relationship, and reward.

However, the very things people seek in pornography are actually found in God. In the face of Christ we meet a God who loves sinners, who welcomes the filthy prodigal sons and daughters home, who promises eternal life with Him.

The more we meditate on the cross of Christ, we will see God’s ruthless pursuit of reckless sinners—and the more we can be satisfied in that love.

3. The Gospel places us into a new community.

It is important to note that accountability is not a second-best or a crutch for those who are “really screwed up.” Accountability is not a last resort; it is a lifestyle. Accountability is not an add-on. When God redeemed us, He did not just draw us to Himself; He drew us into a community of faith.

Accountability is a willingness to receive Gospel-centered encouragement. It is the regular practice of stirring up one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25), encouraging each other so sin doesn’t deceive us (Hebrews 3:13), edifying each other (Romans 14:19), and bearing each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

• Run from temptation
• Run to holy pleasures
• Run with those who can encourage you