Happy Friday! I hope everyone had an amazing week so far. My week was fine, except when my two internet providers decided not to work for almost two days. How can your main internet and back up internet decide to fall your hand at once? Well, thank God for phone data, and less work obligations for those days, if not I would have cried hot tears. Anyway, let’s get into today’s topic, which is one I love to talk about, pornography.
One morning, I decided to take a stroll through social media streets. I branched off at Instagram and noticed that I had some mail. So, I opened my mailbox. After scheming through all of them, I decided to read the one from a family friend. She had sent me a live video from some prophetic page. When I tried to view the video, the live stream had ended.
I wanted to satisfy my curiosity by clicking on the name of the page, so I could view their content. But for some reason, it wasn’t opening. Then I scrolled down and was shocked to see the video suggestions under a supposed Christian video. What greeted me was another live video. However, this time around with a woman half naked, performing some lewd acts, wondering why people hadn’t yet joined the live stream.
Gone are the days, when you had to wait until 12am for porn to start showing on cable television. It’s right here with us, on our fingertips, accessible at anytime. In fact, you don’t have to go looking for it, it will come looking for you. There was a time when I had to continually block pages of women who followed me and were offering sex as their services.
Now, if you are not strong in your faith, and lack self control, it will be easy for you to begin engaging with such pages. And once you engage, platforms like Instagram will keep suggesting such pages/videos for you to attempt to satisfy the appetite you have now created. For you not to fall into this trap of the enemy, you must build your self control. You must learn how to say no to the things that seek to destroy you. Self control or self discipline is a fruit of the spirit. The more you walk with God, and relinquish control over your life to Him, the more self control is developed within you.
One way I have exercised self control is by making promises to God and sticking to them. Once I say to God, “I will never visit this page, or go on social media during work hours,” I must honor it. No matter how uncomfortable I may get. Me who once used to sleep on Instagram, can now go an entire day without visiting the app. In essence, once you train yourself not to become enslaved to certain things, you will no longer desire them.
Job 31:1-4 says, “I made a covenant with my eyes no to look lustfully at a young woman. For what is our lot from God above, our heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? Does he not see my ways and count my every step?
You may think that if you “successfully” hide your dealings on social media, then no one would know the mess you are concealing, and so you can enjoy yourself away from the prying eyes of others. First, most people that I have seen their sketchy social media activities did a poor job of concealing.
This is because you have to make a conscious decision to hide at all times, but as we like to say in Nigeria, one day, you go loose guard. That is, when you are busy scrolling, and someone innocent is sat right next to you, and their eyes catches something. It’s either this happens, or you will become angsty when someone touches your phone, then you will start explaining and explaining, why others, or even your spouse, can’t touch your phone.
Secondly, the people who keep suggesting that mess on social media to you have complete access to your activities on their platform as long as you use it. So, someone, somewhere, can see all you do, and can one day use it against you. Thirdly, “Does he not see my ways and count my every step? Job asks. David says in Psalm 139:2-3, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.”
So, who are we deceiving if not ourselves? The enemy would like to entice us with things that do not edify, things that do not satisfy or have eternal value. 1 Timothy 4:8 says, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
How can we build our appetite for the things of God? It is simple, by feeding ourselves with godly things. Spend time in prayer, spend time in worship, spend time reading your Bible, spend time ingesting biblical content that helps grow your faith.
I’ve noticed that after praying or worshiping that my appetite for certain entertainment (or even music) changes. I feel a certain type of way after praying, if I begin to indulge in things that don’t edify. That is one way God’s Spirit helps us to surrender every part of our hearts to Christ.
And with time, what wasn’t a big deal to you, you wouldn’t even be able to enjoy. Our Christian walk isn’t one that demands only one aspect of lives. Christ seeks to transform us into people worthy of his calling.
Sexual immorality, if you continue to play with it, will eventually lead to destruction. We can see this play out in stories in the Bible. As such, it isn’t worth it. If you must delete all your social media pages, just so you can honor God, and not keep entertaining things that don’t build up, but destroy, you should do so. Jesus is worth every sacrifice.
If you continue to flirt with pornography: be it with thirst trap photos posted by women who are desperate for unhealthy attention, or full blown pornography, it will begin to shape the way you will view your one day spouse. If they don’t look a certain way or perform in a certain manner, you will be dissatisfied and as result, look elsewhere to fill something that can never be satisfied - lust will always demand more and more from you. Be careful.
These things are designed to destroy your life. There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is destruction, Proverbs tells us. Christ says in John 10:10 that the enemy doesn’t come but to kill, steal, and destroy. However, he has come to give us life and life in abundance. The choice is yours.
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my dear, it is literally everywhere. we now have restrict our activities on social media every time