Sexual Addiction

Yoda Was Wrong on This One!

by Jeff Fisher on May 4, 2012

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yoda jedi master“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”

Yoda (Return of the Jedi)

Today is May the 4th – a Star Wars holiday.  “May the 4th Be With You”.  (sigh)

I got to thinking about this line.  This is a great line for warning Luke Skywalker, but a terrible statement for those struggling with sexual addiction.

SEXUAL SIN IS SERIOUS
Let’s not take sin lightly.  Sin is serious.  Sexual sin has a lot of consequences.  It affects our body, spirit, relationships, and emotions.  God takes all sin very seriously, and we need to repent and bring our sin to Him.  There we can find forgiveness and grace instead of His judgment.

I do think that that when we open the door to sinful behavior, the path is large.  It is easy to get sucked in to the snares of lust, pornography, adultery, fantasy, and masturbation.  We must never take sin casually.  It is more powerful than us and can trap us even more.

IT’S NOT HOPELESS
You’ve got to believe that your situation is not hopeless.  You are not forever destined to “The Dark Side”.  When we are struggling with sexual purity and addiction, we start to believe a lot of lies:

  • My situation is hopeless.
  • I can never go back.
  • God can never love me again.
  • I have messed up too much.
  • This is permanent.
  • I’m destined for doom.
  • I’m going to Hell now.
  • My marriage is done.
  • I might as well kill myself.

These do not come from God.

With God there is always recourse.  Hope.  A chance to repent.  An opportunity to get back on His path.

Our situation may get worse.  We may have terrible waves hit us.  But our sexual sin doesn’t not mark us permanently for the future.

Yesterday, guest blogger Amy of the Walking In Freedom blog shared her struggles with bi-sexuality and lesbianism and the slow process God used to free her.

It no longer felt like part of my identity. I realize that this may sound over-simplified to some people, but this is truly what happened for me. It was like that part of my life that had tormented me for years was gone. At that point, I thought that my battle was over. What I didn’t realize, though, was that just that particular part of my battle was over. I now realized that the “real” me (since my identity is now found in Christ) did not include bi-sexuality. This did not erase all of the lies that I had believed for so long, though. So, what were the core lies that I believed?

1) Deep down, I still believed that I would be happier with a woman than a man (even though I was married…and a Christian). As a Christian, I know this cannot be true, though, because the bible says that God did not create me to be with a woman. Since God created me, He knows what type of relationship I was created to be in, and no matter what it “feels” like – a woman is not part of that equation. God is my creator, and therefore He knows best. How dare I question my Creator concerning what’s best for me. That’s arrogance and pride at its worst…and I’ve unfortunately been there many times.

2) I believed that I could never get as close to a man as I could a woman. Every argument Kevin and I got into fostered this lie. Every time Kevin distanced himself from me or was gone for long hours too many days in a row, this belief grew even bigger. This worked as a double-edged sword and made the lie seem even more real, while driving me further and further away from Kevin.

3) I believed that being with a woman was safer (emotionally) than being with a man. Making myself vulnerable to a man seemed foolish. To me, men were all about one thing (sex), and I never saw women as being this way. The relationship I had years ago with my friend was incredibly emotionally enmeshed and I didn’t feel used. I felt loved and accepted for who I was. Somewhere along the way I equated men+sex=being used. I suppose all of that pornography didn’t help matters, and it has taken a long time to replace this lie with God’s Truth. Sex is a good thing between a married man and woman, and God created a sexual relationship to be satisfying to both of them.

4) The last thing that I dealt with that I wouldn’t necessarily call a lie, but a huge obstacle, is that I put so much focus on women in my mind for so long, that it created almost what I would call an automatic “pathway” that my brain always took. I don’t know if it started with all of the pornography, or what it was, but I often fantasized about things that no married woman (or any woman!) should ever think about. I did it so much that I wasn’t even aware of how much I did it until God started to shed light on it all. No wonder my relationship with my husband was not the way it should have been! Not to be too blunt, but there’s not too much that any woman and my husband have in common – physically or emotionally. When you think about the opposite of your husband for long enough, it will destroy every part of your relationship. (I’m sure this applies to anyone who fantasizes about anyone else other than their spouse – male or female.) Talk about a real intimacy killer in a marriage. I thank God, though, that He is able to restore any marriage that is given to Him. My relationship with Kevin is not perfect, but it is far better today than it has ever been (and getting even better all the time!).

God has done so much in my heart over the last few years, and I am not the same person I was! The lies I listed above are not something that were exposed and conquered in my life in one day. Some of them still come creeping into my mind during stressful times or even sometimes when Kevin and I have a disagreement. I have learned to recognize them and cast those thoughts out of my mind now, and this has made me so much stronger, spiritually.

Layer upon layer of junk in my heart has been exposed and then disposed of. It is so important to become aware of the lies that you believe if you are stuck in bondage to something. If we keep trusting in, believing or acting out in certain ways that are sinful, we are believing some sort of lie that is contrary to the Word of God. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be so compelled to do it in the first place. When we repeatedly replace these lies with God’s Truth, we will be able to slowly become the people God created us to be. This is not an overnight process, and I’m aware of that now. I’m encouraged, though, because I know that by God walking me through this step-by-step, I will be able to help someone else through this process also. I know that God has called me to minister to other women who deal with unwanted same sex attractions, and that is so exciting to me.

While we are not always delivered or healed quickly, we can be assured that God uses everything we turn over to Him for good. He will also use our experience and healing journey to help somebody else free – and that makes it all worthwhile once that time comes.

In what area(s) of your life has God been slowly healing / delivering you?

What lies have you been believing about this situation, and what truths from God’s Word can you replace them with? If you’re not sure, ask God to reveal those lies to you and He will! So often we don’t even know we’re believing any lies that are contrary to God’s Word. Once you discover the lies you have been believing, you can attack them with the truth of God’s Word and begin to tear down the stronghold.

Listen to  Amy’s Testimony (Audio)

Healing and Deliverance From Bi-Sexuality

by Jeff Fisher on May 1, 2012

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“When Healing and Deliverance Comes Slowly” – Guest Blogger Amy of Walking in Freedom.net

I spent many years feeling like I had a secret I could never share with anyone. I felt with every fiber of my being that I was bi-sexual. Sometimes I can even look back and see myself questioning whether I was even a lesbian, or not. I say this, because after trying to suppress these feelings for a number of years, their importance seemed to grow. I became more and more focused on this attraction I had to women, and less focused on men. My attraction towards women was more emotionally driven than anything, and I just never felt that way about men. “Who can really connect with a man, anyhow?” is what I always thought to myself.

The sense of connection was what I was drawn to, and I was convinced the only place I could truly find that was with a woman.

The problem? I became a Christian when I first started to realize the depth of all of this. This meant I would always have to just shove this part of myself down and ignore it forever…so I thought. Then I met my husband, Kevin. I somehow knew he and I would have a future together, because the first time I ever talked to him on the phone I told him everything about my past. Well…most of it. I told him all about my relationship with my friend after high school, and everything related. (That was totally out of character for me to do something like that, but I somehow feared if I didn’t put it out on the table right away – I would never tell him.) We talked through it all, and I was so incredibly blessed to one day become his wife. The only thing was the issue with my sexuality started surfacing again a couple years after we got married. I thought I had dealt with it and put it behind me. Little did I know it was just about to come to the surface in a major way.

This is around the time that I started struggling with looking at porn online. By this time, I was struggling, like never before, with thoughts of being bi-sexual. I even started having thoughts that I would have been better off never getting married in the first place, because I would be much happier with a woman. I would constantly tell myself that I couldn’t ever become as close to a man as I could a woman. I eventually stopped looking at the porn online, but my thoughts continued to race, and I was having terrible dreams which made it all worse.

Due to these dreams, it was even more difficult for me to convince myself that bi-sexuality (or lesbianism) was not something that was part of my identity. If my identity as a Christian is in Christ (like the bible says), then these thoughts/ beliefs/ identities/dreams were not a part of who I truly was anymore. I believed that with my head, but my heart told me a different story. I could never truly grasp it, and I just felt like no one understood how deep this all went for me. I rehearsed scriptures of who I was in Christ often, but they never sank in. These attractions felt as much as a part of me as my own name. My lust (because that’s what it was) towards women felt like it was a real part of me that just wouldn’t go away. It affected all of my friendships, because I always stayed at arms-length from women – just in case. I was afraid that I might feel something I didn’t want to feel.

I thought it was all just me…just something I would have to bury and hide.

I would say that my healing in this area really began when I first started telling people about almost 2 years ago. Then, when I was delivered of those dreams, the first big change happened. I suddenly no longer felt like being bi-sexual was part of my identity and realized that it wasn’t part of who I truly was, after all. (This is not easy to explain, but I will try my best!) This is something that I spent years trying to convince myself of, and now I just knew it in my heart.

This is when I realized that something (that felt very much a part of me) had left me.

Tomorrow, Amy will share some of the Core Lies I Believed While Trapped in Bi-Sexuality.

Listen to  Amy’s Testimony (Audio)

Top Tips 025 – It Takes Courage to Get Free

by Jeff Fisher on April 29, 2012

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Some of you are more courageous than me.

I never shared my sexual struggles.  I isolated.  I covered up.  I hid.  I guarded myself from getting too close to others.  Even when I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit over my sexual sin, I pushed Him away.  I did not have the guts to come forward and seek help.

I thought I could handle my struggles.  I thought I was strong enough to overcome them.  Eventually, I thought, I’ll get to a place where I could “outholy” my hangups with my righteous devotion and spiritual disciplines.  Or maybe I would outgrow my desire for sexual content.  The bomb kept growing and ticking in my life.

My heart was hardened, my understanding was darkened, and I had no idea how far I had strayed from God’s calling to purity.  After a while, the conviction the Holy Spirit sent me was a distant pang.  I barely felt Him or heard Him.  I didn’t get help until my bomb went off.

I got caught looking at porn on a work computer.  I was asked to resign my ministry and leave the area because of it.  I almost lost my family in the process.  It took a blow like this to get my attention.  The bomb brought the humbling and brokenness I was missing.  But the carnage was greater because I hid my secrets.

If I had the courage to share my secret sexual sins the consequences might not have been so painful.

I’m impressed with those who email, call our Google Voice line, or approach me after church on Sunday to get help for their sexual sin.  They are taking a brave step.  It takes a lot of _________ [guts, balls, courage] to share your junk with another person.

A SMALL STEP IS HUGE FOR THE STRUGGLER
Sure it’s only an email or a phone call, but it’s GIGANTIC for the man or woman who has been hiding for years, never telling a soul of their secret struggles.  Of course they’ll have to take other, more painful steps to get clean.  But it is a step in the right direction.

I was so paralyzed by my fears I couldn’t take one step.  I was so conflicted with my sexual sin, I had to rationalize it and minimize it so I could continue living with myself.  My self-deception became so bad I began to believe that God was OK with my sinning, that He somehow tolerated it.

Some of you are sitting in the same pocket of fear and internal conflict I experienced.  Are you ready to be courageous and reach out for help?

It’s only a matter of time before your deeds of darkness will be exposed.  At some point, you will slip up.  You will get caught.  You will forget to wipe the history on your browser or cover the tracks of your secret relationship.  Or, perhaps, God will allow your spouse or boss to figure it out.  I thought I had covered my tracks on the office computer.  It was weeks later that my pornographic surfing was found out.  It is not hard for God to open the eyes of others so we get caught.

I hope you will be courageous.

Walking in truth.  Confessing your sins.  Repenting of your sinful behaviors.  Seeking help from safe, skilled people.  These are the keys to victory.

jeff@porntopurity.com

@porntopurity on Twitter

Call-in voicemail line line:  (321) 5-PURITY

In a previous post, I talked about “The 5 Stages of Sexual Addiction Recovery”.

1.  Crisis Stage
2.  Picking Up the Pieces Stage
3.  Repair Stage
4.  Strengthening and Conditioning Stage
5.  Maintenance Stage

I wanted to talk more about the Maintenance Stage.  This is part of the “big picture” of sexual addiction recovery.

The idea of the Maintenance Stage is to be at a place in your recovery where you are strong enough to do the fundamentals.  You have good systems in place, and you are actively maintain your support system.

You hit the maintenance stage somewhere in your recovery when:

  • Your crisis is over
  • You are having no relapses
  • There are minimal slips
  • A healthy sexuality is being established
  • You have a healthy network of relationships established (support structure)
  • You have developed a good offensive and defensive strategy

WHAT MY TRUMPET TEACHER TAUGHT ME ABOUT MAINTENANCE
I wrote a blog a while back called “Lessons I Learned About Sexual Recovery From My Trumpet Teacher”.  The gist of the blog was that performers get to the point when they can self-diagnose.  They know when they are having trouble with a piece of music and can isolate the problem.  They know the importance of going back to the fundamentals to get through harder passages.  They also know when to call for help from another teacher.

MAINTENANCE IS NOT NEGLECT
If you are in the maintenance stage, you are still working to maintain health.  You can’t stay healthy if you are neglecting your recovery.  By this point in your recovery, you have learned to identify triggers and temptations, pause, and call a friend.  You have learned the things to avoid, and have set up roadblocks and boundaries to keep you away from danger zones.  You are proactive in your recovery instead of reactive.

Many jump into maintenance level way too quickly.  We think we are much stronger than we really are.  Take your time.  It is best to let others tell you that you are ready for this level.

Maintenance level is a level where we have to be diligent.

DO I STOP GOING TO SUPPORT GROUP?
I suspect the answer for many reading this is “no”.

You have to have an active network setup before you go to maintenance level and stop attending support group.  You have to have a track record of doing well with your accountability.  You need to have developed a “pause” between trigger and acting out.  You need to know how important it is to call someone the instant you get edgy, or even before.  Your support group is still an important leg of your maintenance level.

If you have a network of intimate relationships relationships with other guys that can meet the same needs as your support group, then try it.

Having other guys in our life is the only way we’re going to know if we’re going off course.  We are not the best judges of our own course.  We can easily be deceived by our own sin nature.

[Blog & Podcast - "You Gotta Have Other Dudes in Your Life"]

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Q:  Is there a maintenance level in recovery?

Q:  When does a person get to this level?

Q:  What else does a person need to do when he’s at the maintenance level?


jeff@porntopurity.com
porntopurity on Twitter

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