The first time she saw him, she was drawn to him. He was gorgeous and had eyes only for her. He made her feel wanted and desired- like she was the only girl in the world. Soon, a secret relationship began. She craved the time with him and slowly wanted more.
As the months progressed, she began to feel that something was wrong. As much as she craved him, she was never fully satisfied, so she began spending more and more time with him. She stayed up for hours at night on her phone, which in turn, affected her waking hours.
After more than a year, her obsession became more than she could take. She knew she had to find freedom from him, but how?
Pornography: An Alarming Trend
The above story is fictitious, but the “guy” is very real and his name is pornography. Porn is designed to entice you. You stumble upon it and see a sexy guy that appears to want you only. You take a peek, and then a few more, and a few more, and if you’re not careful, it can become a full blown addiction.
To help you understand the impact of viewing porn, here is an infographic that neatly sums up all the major research.
“Come on Sarah, I thought porn was only a guy problem.”
I thought this as well until I started researching. Although the overwhelming majority of porn users are male, I found that it also profoundly affects teenage girls and women as well.
As the infographic states, roughly 1 in 3 women struggle with porn. Christians are not exempt from the struggle; in one study I found, it concluded that 1 in 5 Christian girls/women admit to being porn addicts.
1 in 5 Christian women/girls admit to this addiction. Click to read and find help. Click To Tweet
Finding Freedom from Pornography
As mentioned in the opening story, this particular struggle is generally secret. Last week, we discussed overcoming secret sins. The post gives a general overview of secret sins, such as porn, and basic steps to finding freedom.
It also includes an “Action Plan Guide” where you work through a written concrete plan to break free from this desire and how to avoid the temptation of it in the future. You can access the worksheet by signing up for our free resource library here.
In this worksheet, one major emphasis is to tell a trusted adult about your struggle. If you don’t know how to tell someone, check out the post below.
If you are scared of your parents’ reaction, have them watch this first…
Further help
If you are interested in reading more on the subject, below are three helpful posts from websites that are also geared towards teenage girls.
- Project Inspired: How to Find Freedom From Pornography
- Lies Young Women Believe: To the Christian Girl Who Watches Porn
- Girl Defined: Finding Freedom From Your Porn Addiction
In Closing
I really hope this helps lead you in the right direction when it comes to overcoming this stronghold. Again, you can download our action plan guide here to give you a “road map” to getting porn out of your life. This is extremely helpful because it puts “what you should do” into a concrete plan instead of just “good ideas.”
Need help overcoming a secret sin? Click here for the FREE action plan worksheet. Click To Tweet
Love to all,
-Sarah
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