Pornography is not a harmless distraction. [cref internet-pornography Internet pornography continues to grow rapidly and has already fully infiltrated our culture.] Families are suffering from its effects even when its usage is hidden. While some view the occasional, or even frequent, use of the internet to find and view porn as a harmless pastime, the truth is terrible consequences will arise.
Read on to learn why the practice is not harmless but horrible.
Internet Pornography Delivers Horrible Spiritual Consequences
The Bible is plain that sexual behavior belongs only in the context of the marriage relationship. In what is probably the most universally accepted moral code, the 10 Commandments, adultery is forbidden. Jesus said that adultery even includes lust apart from physical contact (Matthew 5:28). Of course adultery and a variety of other sexual sins are included in the lists of Galatians 5:19-21. The eternal consequences are severe.
Beyond the eternal penalties, one suffers in the present as well. Feelings of deep guilt are often reported, especially after one has become addicted to the habit of viewing pornography. The user knows that something just isn’t right yet feels driven to participate in the viewing.
Such guilt also contributes to feelings of estrangement from God. For a person who has previously lived his life in accordance with God’s will, such estrangement is particularly painful. All of this because of a supposedly harmless habit.
Internet Pornography Delivers Horrible Family Consequences
The consequences within the family are especially painful. Counselors report that clients often enter counseling because they have been discovered by another family member. The embarrassment is surely extreme.
At the root of the family consequence is the destruction of trust. Spouses have a right to expect that their partners will be exclusive to them. Any relationship that besets the marital one must be ended. Yet those entrapped in internet pornography return again and again to their “virtual affair.” As one writer said it, faithful spouses are forced to share their bed with a porn model.
Counselors also report that persons caught up in porn tend to drift away from the intimacies normal in marriage. Although the person viewing the porn does not intend to become estranged from their spouse they almost always do. They soon lose the desire and the drive that once marked their marriages. The object of their desires is replaced by a virtual friend.
Perhaps one of the most frightening consequences for many is the impact on children. Children tend to follow in the steps of parents. Those who see or are constantly aware of pornography in the home will tend to view it as normal. Usual growth and development will be marred by this abnormal addition to their lives.
Finally, divorce is often the end of pornographic encounters. Researchers have observed that an addiction to porn is much like an addiction to a drug. There is an increasing demand for more and more in order to achieve the “high” that viewing porn can produce. Often, users report moving from simply viewing pictures to watching videos and then to engaging in online “chat” with the models. Others move toward chat rooms where they begin to talk with others who may be bored in their relationships and are looking for more. Before long the “harmless” pastime of viewing pornography has grown into a full affair. Marital failure is imminent.
Internet Pornography Delivers Horrible Personal Consequences
Issues of self esteem are common in any addiction. The man or woman caught up in this horrible sin slowly begin to descend into a deeper and deeper morass of self defilement and decreasing esteem. The shame associated with the inability to control one’s own actions is great. Even faced with the very real possibility of loosing a family, those addicted continue to pursue one more thrill and soon find themselves confronted with the embarrassment of public discovery, loss of family and perhaps loss of income.
No one who begins tampering with this harmless pastime ever expects the consequences it brings. Internet pornography is not a harmless distraction.
Tomorrow we will offer suggestions on avoiding this problem so that it never takes hold in your lives. Parents will especially be interested in how to protect their children from internet pornography.
As always your comments are most welcomed. Please leave them below.
