1/29/23 - Porn and Your Soul - Matthew 5:27-30 - Pastor Jason Fritz

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
-Matthew 5:27-28

We live in an age where you can see more naked bodies in five minutes than your ancestors could see in five lifetimes. Technology has promoted lust in ways that could never have been imagined. Today’s accessibility of seductive images is unparalleled in human history. You have porn in your pocket and you take it everywhere you go. As a result there is more temptation to lust than any previous generation. Everyone can recall an early time in his or her life when they were exposed to the seduction of the lens. This widespread saturation means that everyone has been affected - either from addiction after compulsively watching or the person who has been shaped by false body images and ideas of what sex should be. 

The simple fact is, there isn’t one longitudinal study that suggests watching porn makes your relationships better. There is an ever-growing body of research, and it can no longer be denied, that repeated porn exposure has a tangible effect on consumers and is connected to declining relationship satisfaction, not to mention all the various forms of exploitation. 

So if you’re going down the wrong path and you have become what you subject yourself to, then it’s going to take some drastic measures to get on the right path. This is why Jesus uses hyperbole to get the point across beginning in Matthew 5:29-30.

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away."

Jesus is not speaking literally because if you were to remove one eye, your other eye would be used to feed your brain damaging images. You can access the keyboard with just one hand. The point is this - We must be drastic with ourselves in how we remove and avoid the temptation. Most of us make very half-hearted efforts. The desire might be there, but the self-control and reliance on God’s Spirit is not present. There is something more fundamental lurking behind your lust.

You are not alone and there is freedom. We want to help you take thoughtful steps to remove what gives you guilt and takes your purity. Jesus gives words of life!