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Breaking Free from Pornography Addiction

A 7-Week Series Through a Process of Discovery and Recovery

42 Minute Read


From Failure to Freedom

God made sex to be a good gift to His people, and He had a good design for it. However, this gift has been perverted and twisted almost beyond recognition. Pornography is wrecking our marriages, our ministries and our capacity to connect with God.

“How to Break Free From the Cycle of Pornography Addiction” is a program set up for weekly one-on-one mentoring, but it can also be used in a small-group setting. This study is an attempt to get something concise, clear and effective out there to help men or women walk through a discovery and recovery process together.

Introduction

“How to Break Free From the Cycle of Pornography Addiction” is an intentionally Jesus-centered resource. Pornography addiction is not just a physical problem. The need is heart change. And frankly, real transformation doesn’t happen without Jesus doing some rewiring in people’s hearts and minds.

Sexual addiction and habitual sexual sin are like a cancer, destroying most of the men (and many women) in this generation — even in the church. Our enslavement to sexual sin is wrecking our marriages, our ministries and our ability to connect with Jesus.

Porn is available anytime, any place. The average boy is exposed to pornography by age 8. Porn fuels the sex trafficking industry, which enslaves millions of men, women and children around the world. In spite of that, porn and masturbation are encouraged by many university professors and school psychologists.

We’re all tired of seeing men – leaders and pastors – disqualifying themselves and ruining relationships. We’re weary of watching men work to pluck the bad fruit they are producing just to see it come back with a vengeance and take them down. Again. And we know this cycle happens, usually more discreetly, in women’s lives as well. God’s gift of and design for sex have become so perverted and twisted, and pornography adds fuel to the fire.

And let’s face it: accountability groups often fall short of their intended purpose. You get a small band of guys together in a quiet place, and then after you confess the escapades of the past week, the other guys pat you on the back and say something like, “Bummer dude. Can we pray for you?” Rinse and repeat a few times, and then come back the next week to do it all over again. With no real change. I’ve been a part of several groups and relationships like this. I’ve left feeling hopeless, either for myself or for the other guys, because I didn’t have a clue how to help any of us.

But this study is an attempt to get something out there to help men walk through recovery together. It is geared toward men but has been successfully used by many women. Ultimately, we want to see people move away from the enslavement of pornography and sexual sin and toward the freedom found in Jesus.

How to Use This Resource

Print out and look over the resource before meeting together. If you’re leading someone through it, don’t give the packet to them. At the appropriate times, share the worksheets so that your mentee or group can work through them, but otherwise, keep the main packet for yourself. After you have finished, everyone who went through the study together should have their own copy.

There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way to use this. Much of your experience with this resource will be based on you. The most important thing is to be honest and to listen well.

I pray God uses it to bring freedom and healing to the wounded and enslaved!


Week 1: Possess the Land

Goal: Understand the need to fight hard. Walk away with resolve and commitment.

  • Read Romans 6 and discuss it together.

  • Read the provided study material together.

  • Assign 1 John 1 to read independently.

Week 2: Turning the Light On

Goal: Confess hidden sin. Understand your need for the gospel and the results of confession.

  • Read 1 John 1:5-10 and discuss it together.

  • Assign Proverbs 7 to read independently.

Week 3: Positioning

Goal: Set goals and define disciplines to move toward cessation of sin and its replacement with healthy habits.

  • Read Proverbs 7 as positioning for obedience.

  • Go over the tactics and choose specific points of action

  • Assign “10 of My Most Painful Experiences” to complete independently.

Week 4: 10 Painful Experiences

Goal: Process difficult, life-shaping events.

  • Walk through “10 of My Most Painful Experiences” in-depth. Listen well. Ask questions. Take notes. Look for themes and patterns of beliefs to discuss in week 6.

  • Assign Isaiah 43:1-10 to read independently

Week 5: Renewing the Mind

Goal: Identify patterns of thought and false beliefs. Grasp the contrasting truths of the gospel.

  • Read the tree “how-to” ahead of time.

  • Fill out the “fallen” side of the tree page together.

  • Explore Isaiah 43:1-10 together.

  • Fill out the “redeemed” side of the tree page using the truths of Isaiah 43:1-10.

  • Plan to share the truths of the redeemed side of the tree with others.

  • Assign Romans 7-8 to read independently.

Week 6: Freedom

Goal: Understand the basic physiology of addiction and the process of recovery.

  • Provide the sexual addiction assessment worksheet and then discuss.

  • Read the brain section together.

  • Read Romans 7-8 together.

  • Discuss the cycles of addiction, relapse and recovery.

Week 7: Better Accountability

Goal: Understand the need for accountability and how to do accountability well.

  • Read 1 Samuel 14:6-15.

  • Read the page together and discuss it.

     









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