Life Challenges

Is Porn Really That Bad?

To some, it seems harmless. To a society that's normalized porn, watching it seems like a neutral issue. But could it be more serious than we suspect? 

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Beware of Lady Pornea

It’s the oldest trick in the book, and you may just be falling for it.

Lure him to the dragon’s lair with glittering gold. Poison her through the pleasure of pretty fruit. Look good and lie; lead them with a gentle hand to their death.

This is why witches dress like grandmothers; why terrorists dress like tourists; why Satan dressed like a serpent, and still dresses up like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Evil must wear a mask—always—because it’s ugly underneath, and if we saw the reality, we would be repulsed.

Evil makes promises, because its plans are wicked, and you wouldn’t buy into them in your right mind without the glimmer of something alluring.

But you may just be falling for the age-old trick. There’s an industry slimier than any other in human history. The Queen of this enterprise bats her eyes, offers you pleasure, and of course, says there’s no cost.

Oh, she’s good, real good. The fact that she’s enslaved so many little boys and old men, some professing Christians too, not to mention girls, is no surprise. She may be duping you with the same trick—to what end?

For your good? No.

So she can kill you? Yes.

A Warning About the Forbidden Woman

Don’t believe us? There’s an ancient poem within the wisest literature that warns against her—

"And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death." (Proverbs 7:24-27 ESV)

Did you hear that? She turns your heart before your head, and when your feet finally follow, she will make sure you end up dead. She will consume the hard labor of your hands when she comes calling for the price she promised you didn’t have to pay. She will plow pain into your soul and sever your most precious relationships. She will deceive you, dupe you, and lead you to despair.

Her victims are many, a mighty throng. None who take her ways come out alive.

Oh, did we forget to mention her name?

In Greek it’s Pornea. This poem calls her “the forbidden woman,” “the adulteress,” “a woman dressed as a prostitute.” We’ve nicknamed her Porn, and her full name is Pornography.

Excuses for Porn

But everyone does it! You say. 

Yes, “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matthew 7:13 NIV).

Who am I hurting? It’s just me and the screen!

And God, don’t forget. After all, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:13 ESV).

In truth, you’re aiding the abuse of a masterpiece of the Creator; you are experiencing the trauma, torture, and trafficking of one of his beloved image bearers. He doesn’t ever leave evil unpunished (Romans 12:9). You’re on God’s screen; and he doesn’t clear the history.

“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17 ESV)

But nobody knows! 

In all the scary movies, if the killer has you alone, that’s the best place for murders to happen.

Faithful Are the Wounds of a Friend

We have some hurtful but hopeful news. If you’re looking at porn, you are self-deceived—just like all of humanity is—by the Evil One (Ephesians 2:1-2), and walking straight into your death. And no, we’re not being dramatic.

Death, yes, that is what the Scriptures are saying. Why? Because the most precious thing you have is your soul and there is one who seeks its destruction, and that is what Pornea is after. Deceiving us into death with sweet lies has been the Enemy’s scheme since day one (Genesis 3).

An Ancient Poem for Our Modern Ears

If you’re looking at porn, you’re walking into a trap. And as your friend, we are screaming to keep you from taking one step further. Our hearts are burning for you to drop that apple, step away from the gold.

Blaring warnings from the book of Proverbs smash every excuse for engaging in porn. Solomon was the wisest man to walk the face of the earth (1 Kings 3:12) and he writes to his sons about this foul foe—Lady Fornication, in all the forms she takes.

This is really God’s warning to all his sons and daughters. And because we consider you a friend, we want to share his Word with you. This is our heavenly Father’s loving warning to you today, a holy and faithful wound (Proverbs 27:6), a loving shepherd’s crook to keep you from the cliffs (Psalm 23:4).

Read on to discover three effects of pornography and how to find freedom from it.  

by Bibles.net

OPEN YOUR BIBLE

Theme Verse

“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. 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.”

MATTHEW 5:27-29 ESV

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Is Porn Really That Bad?
Article: 13 Min

Beware of Lady
Pornea: An Ancient Warning
for Our Modern Ears

by Bibles.net
Quote

What's Wrong With Porn?

Any and every time we indulge in pornography, we deny the precious gospel truth that every man and woman possesses inherent dignity, not to be solicited and sold for sex, but to be valued and treasured as excellent in the eyes of God.

People are not inferior objects to be used and abused for selfish, sexual, sensual pleasure; they are equal image bearers of the God who loves and cares for them. We may scoff at how pre-Civil War churchgoers justified slaves in their backyards, but aren’t we dangerously like them when we participate in pornography (and promote the sex slavery to which it is inextricably tied) in our own homes?

by David Platt | Source
Image

Her house is
the road
to the grave.

Her bedroom
is the den of death.

Proverbs 7:27 NLT
Article: 10 Min

What’s At Stake with Internet Pornography

by Russell Moore at his blog

Verse
Hebrews 13:4 ESV

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Quote

If you and sin
are friends,
then you and God
are not yet
reconciled.

J.C. Ryle
Article: 7 Min

Why So Many Men Are Hooked on Internet Porn and Video Games

by Russell Moore at his blog

Verse
1 Corinthians 6:9-20 NIV

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Article: 7 Min

What Do Hitmen and Porn Watchers Have in Common?

by Tim Challies at his blog

Quote

It's only ever
the evil inside of us
that magnetizes us
toward and
connects us to the evil
that's outside
of us.

Article: 7 Min

5 Ways Porn Lies to You

by Tim Challies at his blog

Verse
Luke 11:34-35 NKJV

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.

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