It’s the end of a long and stressful day.
Your family is feeling it too. This new school-from-home, work-from-home, everything-from-home season is taking its toll. When it’s finally time for the kids to get to bed, your wife is exhausted and decides to turn in early too, but you stay up a bit just to unwind.
It’s a common scenario. You’re too tired to read, and there’s nothing good on TV, so what do you do with that stress, frustration, loneliness, or boredom?
Sin is stealthy and often begins with triggers that seem unrelated.
We need to be able to recognize those triggers to avoid falling into the same cycles of sin. I Corinthians 10:13 tells us plainly that God is faithful, and He will not let us be tempted beyond our ability without providing a way of escape.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” I Corinthians 10:13
Finding victory over sin and addiction starts with jumping off the path that leads to sin altogether. God has promised us a way out, but He doesn’t zap us out of a compromising situation. It’s up to us to jump off that merry-go-round.
Brad Hambrick, Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC and Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has laid out a look at 19 Possible Motives Triggering Your Porn Consumption. I often hear guys talk about addiction triggers. Many use the acronym HALT to group them. We tend to self-medicate when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Taking care of our basic needs in life can be easier said than done in today’s world. Many of the responsibilities, pressures, and stresses of everyday life are now multiplied by the hardships and isolation brought on by a pandemic.
The bottom line is that when we seek satisfaction in anything other than God, we will fail.
“Unless Christ is our hero and God our admired Father, then the choice seems like a no-brainer in the direction of destruction.”
Brad gives us some gut-check level clarity to the broad range of triggers and/or motives that cause us to reach for our drug of choice. For many men, we know that drug is pornography and sexual sin. His comments and direction to biblical references are helpful tools for every man regardless of your weakness. It’s ultimately a heart issue.
“When we understand the motive for our sin, it allows us to hear the empty promises sin makes so we can turn to our loving Heavenly Father who is willing and able to fulfill those promises.”
Sin’s promises always fail us, but God’s promises will always fulfill us.
Challenge:
- Take 15 minutes to read through 19 Possible Motives Triggering Your Porn Consumption.
- Spend a few minutes each day over the next 19 days looking up the scripture for each trigger, praying over it, and asking God to reveal any triggers you might have in your own life that can lead to sin.
- Tell a trusted brother in Christ what you’ve learned. There is freedom in revealing truth.
- Replace habits that lead to triggers with healthy habits. Learn more about Hobbies and Habits from Covenant Eyes.