Internet Pornography: What is the Big Deal?

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Internet pornography has become one of the biggest industries in the world as well as one of the biggest funnels for human trafficking. This post isn’t about human trafficking, but how incredibly vulnerable we are as a human race to pornography.

I’m sure people are rolling their eyes, thinking, “It’s just porn. What’s the big deal?” No doubt people wonder why we would feel the need to share our story so openly. 

Why would people feel the urgency to be transparent, when it could cost so much?

What good can exposing yourself and opening yourself up for judgment and criticism possibly do?

The truth is, this porn problem…it’s an epidemic. Thanks to the internet, technology at our fingertips, and private devices, it’s everywhere–all the time. There’s constant access to pornography, and we, being sinful and sexual creatures, can fall prey. You may be saying,

“Yeah, I get that, but we are Christians. If you are a Christian, you should not have a problem.”

As stated by Covenant Eyes’ Pornography Statistics:

According to a survey conducted by the Barna Group in the U.S. in 2014:

*64% of self-identified Christian men and 15% of self-identified Christian women
view pornography at least once a month (compared to 65% of non-Christian men
and 30% of non-Christian women).

I don’t think–no, I know— that being a Christ follower doesn’t exempt any person from falling into temptation. According to the statistic above, there are almost as many Christian men viewing pornography as non-Christian men.

And women, let’s not exclude ourselves. Whether we want to admit it or not, women also struggle with this secret sin. The fact is, you know someone right now struggling in the grip of porn addiction. They are in one of two camps:  either they don’t know (or care) that it’s sinful and tearing them apart, or they are trapped in it and don’t know how to get out.

Read Rachel’s story HERE, a woman who admits to struggling and how low it brought her. 

A response that I have heard more than once is, “Well, tell them to just stop looking.” 

I wish it were that easy. Really, I do, but porn addiction, just like any drug addiction keeps users returning for more and more, even when they hate themselves for it. [If you want an in-depth look at what goes on in the brain when using porn, click the banner below.  It’s a free e-book!]

And, that’s why we have to share our stories. There is hope for the hopeless stuck in porn addiction. God does heal; He can and does mend marriages wrecked by this addiction. But without confession, people continue on not knowing how they can ever break free from this.

What’s the first step?

The first step in protecting your family is an internet filter like Covenant Eyes. I was introduced to CE by a friend whose husband worked for the company for a time. In fact, I won a giveaway that offered a free subscription to CE. Unfortunately, after the free subscription was up, we were in the mist of serious financial struggle and didn’t have the extra money to continue the subscription. Can I tell you how many times I’ve kicked myself since? I wish I had found an extra $16 a month to protect my marriage and my family. The thing is, at that point, my husband wasn’t struggling with porn addiction. You never know when the battle is going to rage.

Covenant Eyes Free for You!

When this post was originally written, we hosted a giveaway. While that time has passed, we would still like to offer Covenant Eyes to you free for 30 days. We would love for all of you to sign up and never consider stopping the subscription because we know what internet pornography can do to a marriage and family. It’s just not worth the gamble.

What you’ll get with your subscription

What you’ll get is filtering and accountability for your entire family on every device you own. You can set the parameters for your family according to the age of your kids and what you deem okay for viewing: restrict to certain sites, everyone, youth, teen, mature teen, mature. Filtering blocks sites above the allowed rating. Accountability allows you to see every website a family member accesses and have a weekly report sent to you or another adult. You can also view anyone’s report at any time on the website.

Anyone who clicks through the Covenant Eyes link below, can try CE free for 30 days! It’s win-win! You have nothing to lose by trying it out. I’m afraid–and proof–that without one, marriages can be torn apart, and families can be devastated by internet pornography.

Finding help for couples

If you find yourself in a situation where your marriage is being torn apart by the porn use of your spouse, check out our program, The Marriage Restoration Roadmap.