Fighting Unwanted, Pornographic Memories

Even after a man overcomes his addiction to sexual sin he may still be plagued with vile memories from his past. In this short interview, Steve Gallagher discusses reasons this man may still be struggling with these kinds of thoughts and the right response to them.

Host: Today we want to tackle a question that came in from a young man who had gotten himself involved in internet pornography. He is walking in freedom from viewing porn at this point, but he's wondering why as a believer he can't prevent some of those memories from coming back to him.

Steve: Well, let's take a look at the dynamic of the human mind for a second. Generally, a man grows up wired by God to be a one-woman man. The whole season of puberty during his teen years is taking him in the direction of his wedding night. So, he's going to, Lord willing, eventually get married and have that beautiful, wonderful experience of intimacy with his wife.

Host: So, there is a natural sexual desire that God wants men to have.

Steve: Yes, it's normal. God created sex and it's a beautiful thing to the Lord in its right context. It's not something that's dirty in itself. But what happens is if we get involved in something perverted like pornography then the enemy uses that to corrupt our perspective of sexuality. And so, perversions of God’s intentions for things begin to take us down a bad path.

Host: Now, we do have a fallen nature. How does that fallen nature play into this?

Steve: Well, obviously, the fallen nature is naturally prone to sinful thinking. So, when something like pornography is introduced, our sinful nature is more than willing to go after it. But it's not just a matter of that, there's also the whole element of what I would call the autopilot of our brains. Our minds are a lot like a computer. The computer can be operating all the time, but that can be a separate operation from what the user is actually typing. And that's kind of an illustration of the way our minds work. Our minds can be in auto pilot where we're not purposing to think bad thoughts, but they just kind of float on in and we find ourselves with these images that we must deal with.

Host: Well, I'm glad you shared that because I know one of the problems that guys deal with after overcoming an addiction to pornography is that they can be sitting in church and out of the blue they recall a vile memory and they weren't even trying to think of it.

Steve: When that sort of thing happens, that could very well be the enemy trying to distract the person from what is going on in that spiritual atmosphere. The enemy can come in and introduce sinful thoughts into our minds.

Host: Ok. So, sometimes it is out of our control. Maybe it's the enemy. But sometimes it can also be our own weakness in wanting to pursue those thoughts. What's the answer to the problem?

Steve: Well, really the overall answer is to change our thinking. God has left us with the resource to do that and it is the Word of God. If a guy will spend quality time every morning in the Word of God, and I'm talking about at least a half an hour meditating on and studying the Word, it has the power to wash our minds of filthy thinking and to cleanse out our memories over time. And it has the power to introduce a new mindset. The Word of God is God's thinking. It holds His perspectives on life and the more time we spend in it, the more we're going to take on His perspectives. And so, it doesn't happen overnight. But like I've said many times, if you don't want to be thinking the same way you are now six months from now, then you better start getting into the Word of God daily.

<pull-quote>The Word of God is God's thinking. It holds His perspectives on life and the more time we spend in it, the more we're going to take on His perspectives.<pull-quote><tweet-link>TweetThis<tweet-link>

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Host: The verse that comes to my mind is Romans 12:2 that tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And how important it is for these folks to understand that there is more to it than just stopping bad behavior. That of course is critical, but when it comes to actually changing our hearts and changing our minds, it is the Word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to do that.

Steve: Yeah. I mean, let's face it. The images that we've introduced into our minds don't just go away. When we quit looking at pornography, there's still that lingering effect. But the Word of God has the power to cleanse that away.

Host: And it's your experience after nearly 40 years of dealing with guys in your own life that as you establish a devotional life in the Word of God and in prayer then those memories will fade over time.

Steve: Yes. Absolutely.