Killing Porn at the Root (4)
battle plan 4 (between the shoulders)
Friend,
We’re still in the battle against digital immorality! How are you doing?
We’ve worked together to understand the circumstances of our temptation. We’ve planned to slow down and listen to the Spirit. We’ve prepared to act quickly to battle temptation.
By grace, we’re preparing to break the habit loop of the flesh and lean into the Spirit’s leading in new habits of grace.
Hear me on this loud and clear… Desire eats Discipline for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snacks.
Plans to flee and plans to fight are important. The root of the heart and the propulsion of desires are the central battle ground for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit will flex the victory of Christ most clearly in your transformed affections that propel enduring actions.
Transformation will happen internally by the Spirit. The primary battle is within the heart because sin comes from the heart.
Embrace the truth that sin originates from within us, not from external circumstances.
Lean into the counter-cultural words of the Lord…
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20–23
The primary battle with sin is in your heart, not your surroundings.
If I tip a cup full of water, then water spills out of the cup. If I tip a mug of coffee, out pours coffee. The tipping helped reveal what was inside. The tipping did not put something inside the vessel.
When sin comes out of us, we cannot blame circumstances or people. At best they tip or tilt or damage a cup, but what comes out in any circumstance is what was already inside.
How will your desires be transformed?
Very slowly.
You’re on a patient journey of transforming the way you think, desire, and act in line with Christ.
Transformation at this scope will take time… But Jesus has given you time in His grace! He has turned aside the wrath your sins deserve and given you the title “son” in Him. You have secure love from the Father as you work to live in a way that pleases Him.
The lifelong process of putting sin to death and learning to live in righteousness from the Spirit should be a joy to us.
At every place we see sin or grow in a deeper understanding of God’s holiness–we will see the beauty of Jesus Christ more clearly!
As the Spirit reveals our need for transformation and growth we are not in jeopardy–we are in Christ!
The full and final atonement of Christ is the jet propulsion on a life that takes sin, repentance, and holiness seriously. We can run toward repentance because we know that sin is most deadly in the dark. We can enjoy repentance because every place we see our need for a Savior we gladly can rejoice that we have Him!
I can tell I’m starting to get sidetracked singing about the Gospel… It’s wonderful!
Let’s get back to task–Desires are a central battle ground for God’s transforming power.
Transformation is fundamentally about Worship.
You become like what you worship. Your life follows your desires. Your primary problem, mine too, is seeing anything or anyone as more desirable and worthy of worship than God.
In our day, people pretend their desires are outside their control. They blame creation (“I was made this way”) rather than the fall (“This is not how it should be”).
Desires can feel that way. Emotions too. While desires and emotions may feel outside of our control, they are expressions of ourselves.
If we have desires that are out of line with God’s desires, then we need God to transform those desires. We want God to transform us. When He does, He will include our values, desires, emotions and the behavior that flows from them.
(This has important implications for how people think about sexual identity etc. For now, I’ll let you connect the dots and make applications but perhaps a future writing would be helpful.)
Your desires express your values. Your values are informed by the fundamental truths that shape your view of the world.
If $1Billion sits on a table for you with no one to see you steal it–your head and heart rage with debate and wrestle against desire.
If that money brought a promise of only 12 hours left of life for those who touch it, your inner debate changes and the allure of the cash dwindles.
The power of habituation is strong, and the pull of sin patterns can be illogically easy. You might cover a cupcake in arsenic and still feel the pull to snack. That’s why we’ve discussed slowing down etc.
Right now, let’s focus on the connection between desires and actions. Your actions demonstrate your desires. Your desires express your values. Your values are shaped by the truth you live in. Long story short–your behavior is the best demonstration of what you believe.
You do what you want. You want what is desirable. You determine desires by truth. You’re not going through this process consciously all the time–you’ve habituated it. That’s why the habits of grace are crucial to begin reinforcing a new way of life.
This chain of events can be seen in James 1.
14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:14–15
While sin may feel like it overtakes us without thought or pattern, it is expressing a value system and inner-logic. The Spirit can help you embrace obedience before you’ve understood the lies that have captured your heart. Enduring engagement with the flesh is helped by understanding the lies you want the Gospel to kill.
Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 10
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We will have to keep this discussion going in a later letter. For now, will you prayerfully consider what lies might be fighting for your heart?
What lies fueled your sin? That is a wonderfully spiritual question that is almost impossible to act on. Let me give you a few more questions that might spur reflection…
What is your emotional state prior to temptation to look at porn? What type of emotions are you feeling?
What topics are on your mind before times of temptation?
What events or interactions lead to times of temptation?
What memories lead to temptation?
What dreams about the future lead to temptation?
These questions may help you understand the worship dynamics of your heart.
What objects of worship do these questions reveal?
As the Spirit reveals misplaced worship, we can place worship on Jesus!
We’re on a joyful journey with miles to go, so we’ll come back to this… Don’t let that discourage you! Jesus is working in you toward the future He won for you!