August 10th
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” Mark 7:21-23 NKJV
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
This passage from Mark gives us an inventory of all the ugly things that come from our own hearts – it’s extensive, to say the least. Had Jesus not come and died for us, we’d all be in serious trouble! Thankfully, through believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord, we are miraculously transformed into “new creations.” The blood Jesus shed for each of us provides total cleansing from the evil desires mentioned in verses 21-23.
The journey into porn addiction is often quick and easy. As the door slams behind us, we probably don’t realize how difficult it is to get free of the porn because we’re hooked. Porn is a powerful promoter of the evil things in our hearts. Its depictions cater to evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, covetousness, wickedness and an evil eye. Porn resurrects the thoughts that were supposed to be dead in Christ.
Recovery begins when we ask Jesus to help us die to the “old things” all over again and to renew the “new things” (pure mind, good eyes, Christ-like heart, etc) that were choked out by our porn addiction. Then, we must stop looking at porn and stop letting our thoughts run wild in lust. There are plenty of challenges in doing this, but God will help us walk to purity. For more details, see our Freedom Journey study.
Questions for further thought:
Please list at least 4 corrupting influences that originate in our hearts.
How does looking at pornography feed the corrupting influences of our hearts?
What are things we can do as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice for us? (1 Peter 2:24)
Prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I invite you into my heart anew today, and I ask forgiveness for all of my sin. Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins and for forgiving me of them through your shed blood for me on the cross. Please take away all the sinful “old things” in my heart that defile me, especially ________(list) and replace them with the “good things” that you desire to grow in to my life. Please wash away all the sinful crud and tendencies toward evil and replace them with a hunger and thirst for your righteousness. I need your help, Lord God, in living this new life in Christ. Please send your Holy Spirit afresh into my life to help me, heal me, lead me and transform me. In Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.”