 Let's stop beating around the bush. Pornography is an issue. Let's talk about it. So I wanna begin this video with just a little bit of a story. Couple weeks ago, I posted a video on TikTok where I'm quite active on there about why you should quit pornography. Three reasons why you should quit pornography. And I said at the end of the video, if you're struggling with pornography, I'd give me a DM on Instagram. So I proceeded to get hundreds of DMs from people from the ages of 12 to 40 asking for help in these resources that I was saying I could provide. And it was just kind of a playlist on my YouTube channel here. You can find it, it's called Online Purity. And I was just kind of overwhelmed with this. Everyone's just like, we wanna stop. We wanna stop pornography because it's having this terrible impact on our lives. And for me, I knew it was an issue. I knew it was something that was maybe not as talked about in the Christian community. Maybe it was pushed under the rug a little bit more just because we don't like to talk about that stuff. It's icky. We'd rather just not even think about it. But the fact is, and what I'm coming to realize as part of the reason I wanna make this video for you is because most likely you or somebody that you know is struggling with it right now in this moment. And so if that's you, if you're somebody that is either struggling with pornography or you are just totally given over to it or you know somebody that is struggling with it, I wanna just be able to be there for you, be a little bit of a sounding board for maybe some of the things that you're thinking and just, I wanna try to help you a little bit with some of the things that have helped me. And I wanna tell you a story about my own experience with this type of stuff. So when I was around, I guess, 13 or so, I got an iPad from an iPod. It was my first really any kind of technological device, a device, pardon me. And so I was just gonna, you know, I was gonna use it and so I had never really thought about using YouTube or whatever. I would go over to some friends' houses and they would have YouTube on there and we'd listen to some auto-tune videos. I think it was Shmoio and that was fun. So I played around on YouTube on my iPod. And yeah, this stuff is awkward for me to share. Like I'm all about authenticity and vulnerability but at the same time I just want you to know this isn't easy. So anyway, when I was 13, looking at these Super Bowl commercials, that was what popped up. I know it sounds kind of like, okay, that's not that bad but at 13 you gotta think about like the first experience with this type of stuff. And so you know how sexually graphic and sexually charged they can be. And that was just kind of a starting point from looking for more videos like that. And ultimately got to the place for me as a 13 year old where I just knew, look, this is not, I cannot be doing this. It's like I feel so guilty all the time. It has like control over me almost. So one night I was like, enough is enough. And so I went to my dad at 13 years old and said, hey, I need to talk to you. This wasn't something usual. This was kind of late at night and I was saying, I need to talk to you. And I kind of explained what was going on. And from that moment on he took my iPod during the night because that was when I was most tempted. And that was kind of the beginning of my own journey with this stuff. I think we all have kind of those stories of when we first kind of encountered whether it was pornography or just sexually charged material. And for guys especially, man, this stuff is prevalent. I know it like I've gotten messages from girls too saying, hey, we're struggling with this too. And so we ought not just think this is a totally a guy's issue. These are some of the things that I would say. Number one, I'm not gonna try to convince you that it's bad. Like I think the people that I'm kind of talking to in this video, you guys already know it's bad. You already know that it takes a hold of you. It distorts your perspective of the opposite gender that God says, don't look with lust, all this stuff. So you're like, okay, I know it's bad and yet I feel overtaken by it. I feel almost helpless in this battle. And so in my mind, this is where I go. Power and presence, two words. Two words, power and presence. And when I think of those two words, what do I think of? I think of God's power. God's power and God's presence within my life. So only when God is, when I'm aware, number one, aware of God's presence with me and stepping into the power and the fact that God has empowered me to walk in truth, to walk in holiness. God has empowered me to do that by his spirit. That is what I need to be aware of. That is what I need to be turning my focus back onto when I feel helpless in this battle because like it is, I'm having such a hard time filming this video. It is, it's tough. Like I'm not gonna sit here and say that I'm perfect in this area. I'm not. It is something that you need to be consciously aware of in terms of guarding your eyes on Instagram. Like it blows my mind. I mean, I'm on social media. I wanna provide stuff for you guys to read and be encouraged by and learn from and all this stuff and just share my experiences. And so I'm on these platforms, but I'm continually, I feel like I'm continually inundated with this sexually charged content. And that's really tough on your heart. That's really tough on your soul. And what I'm asking for is just a renewal of, you know what, I'm gonna flee sexual temptation, sexual immorality, I'm gonna flee that. And it's a decision, it's a constant daily decision. Too often we think of, you know, of this thing being like, okay, well, for non-believers, they don't have Christ in their lives. So, okay, they're doing that, that's fine. But then when you come to Christ, right, then that stuff's all gone, right? Then you don't even have to worry about that anymore. But the thing is, this is a daily, a daily issue. It's a continual repentance and faith towards God in order to overcome it. I don't know of any kind of like system or like strategy that makes it like, so you get out of this. You know what I'm saying? Like if you have a pornography addiction, the only thing that's gonna get you out of this or the only thing that's gonna transform how you see it is God. So what I'm most passionate about at this point, as I'm talking to you, is you realizing and stepping into, realizing God's presence and stepping into his power. It's his power. It's not your own, it's not your own sheer will to overcome this. Just some practical things that I want to encourage you with is God, God sees you. God sees you as his child. So when we fall, when we step into these areas that we know we're not supposed to be in, when we've partaken things we're not supposed to partake in, we're overwhelmed by shame. And often that shame draws us away from God into more sin, into the cycle of sin continually. But what ought to be happening is we need to be able to jump out of those situations where we made a mistake and say, no, that's not me. No, that's not, no, that's not who I am. I'm a child of God. God delights in me. This is a verse I want to share with you from Zephaniah 3.17. And it just kind of reiterates this power and presence idea. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. When we talk about God saving us, what does God save us from? What saves us from our sin? But sometimes we just think of that like as a one moment type deal, as that justification moment, right? But God is continually saving us from our sinful addictions and proclivities in terms of just this pull towards pornography and lust. And so as much as I can from friend to friend, just encourage you that this battle, though it may seem hopeless, it is not lost. There is great power in the fact that God looks at you and he delights in you and he doesn't see a disgusting piece of trash, but instead he sees his child. And yes, he hates sin. Yes, he hates sin. And that's why he desires so much for us to break free from it by his power. And I would just encourage you guys, you know what? A lot of us have pushed this under the rug. A lot of us, myself included from time to time have said, you know what? I'm just gonna push this, this kind of issue and that's not, you know, that's only sometimes, but I'm gonna do my thing. And so then you kind of leave this, these two parts of you, you know? You can be the good Christian person that leads a Bible study or helps in Sunday school and you can also do this. But I'm here to tell you, that's no way to live your life. Two halves of a life, keeping Christ in a box because there's so much more to experience and to know and so much a deeper connection with God that is available. If we were to just say, I'm struggling, if we were to just say, this is an issue, if we were to just say, yeah, this has taken hold of my life and I don't know how to break free. Let's start there. Can we start there, guys? Like, can we start there? Can we begin to be honest with ourselves? I don't have the answers to all this stuff. If I did, I'd be a lot richer than I am. But I don't. And part of the reason, I think, is that if we could just beat this on our own, we wouldn't need God. But these things, the fact that we are just, we are hopeless sometimes in our own strength, those things are there to cause us to follow God, to rely on Him, because we can't overcome sin on our own. We need God in this. I'm kind of rambling now, but I hope you guys benefit from this video. I just wanna share with some of my heart with you. And man, there's gonna be more content to come on this stuff. So if you're struggling right now, begin with just being honest with yourself and being honest with God. Let's start there. Can we start there? Thank you guys. Blessings.