Take Your Life Back

October 5, 2012 by Stephen Williams 1 Comment

The last time I chose to use pornography I was twelve years old. Back then pornography was almost innocent because I didn’t understand the consequences…it was just fun and exciting.

Unfortunately, in the twenty years since then I stopped ‘choosing’ to use pornography; it became a compulsion, and later, an addiction. Those of you still mired in pornography know what I mean: If you could choose to stop, you would. You have some sense of the damage pornography is doing to your life, but you need pornography. You are compelled to use pornography to satisfy your emotional needs.

But there is hope! Thanks to my recovery program and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the first time in twenty years I can again choose whether or not to use pornography.

But do I want to start using pornography again, knowing what I know today? Absolutely not! The cost is far too great to justify such a decision.

If I was able to speak to the twelve-year-old me about pornography (or when I talk to my son one day about pornography) I would present what I know in the form of simple Cost/Benefit Analysis:

Benefits
– Visually exciting
– Mentally and physically stimulating
– May temporarily fill perceived emotional needs

Costs
– Physically addictive
– Psychologically addictive
– Damages relationship with one’s spouse, possibly leading to divorce
– Potential for legal trouble including jail time
– May lead to job loss
– Significant costs associated with purchases
– Increased anxiety
– Declining mental health
– Diminishes mental capacity
– Decreases performance at work
– Decreases frequency of sexual activity
– Decreases quality of sexual activity
– Significant moral hazard
– Increasingly frequent outburst of anger and/or rage
– Physical injury associated with masturbation
– Increases isolation from friends and family
– Leads to depression

If you are tired of paying the high costs of pornography use, please seek help through a pastor, mental health professional, or recovery support group.

Choose to take your life back today!