1146 - How to Handle Porn Triggers Without White-Knuckling

So we're talking today about triggers and temptations.

And this is a really important subject.

I think sometimes we oversimplify the whole recovery thing and we just think, oh my goodness, if I could perfectly master my temptations, I would never fall into pornography.

And I guess, you know, if we want to be technical, I think that's true.

The interesting thing is, you know, Scripture says, like in Matthew 6, Jesus instructed us to pray, lead us not into temptation.

In other words, we are not meant to put ourselves in places where we know we're going to be vulnerable or tempted.

I just finished working with a one-on-one client, and it was really interesting.

You know, probably about halfway through our time together, you know, we had a lot of momentum going.

And, you know, it wasn't the perfect time.

linear journey, you know, it's the classic, you know, recovery's kind of these squiggly lines all over the place, but if you draw the trend line, it's going in the right direction, right? So that was kind of his experience, but then he wound up getting invited to go to a rave with a couple friends, and he had a really good time, and then, you know, came back, and then And I think in hindsight, he was able to look and say, you know, that that was probably not the best choice for me.

Right.

And he was just going to hang out with some friends.

And he's in a season where social connection means a lot to him.

And, you know, there were he wasn't doing it out of stupidity.

He did it with some good reasons.

But he came back and realized, oh, you know, I probably shouldn't have led myself into temptation, right? Lead us not into temptation.

That would be a good example where there's things you can avoid, right? There's things that we can do that simply ensure we don't get tempted.

Then there's the other side of it.

Hebrews 4.15, Jesus was tempted in every way yet was without sin.

That's a paraphrase, but that's the gist of that verse.

So Jesus was still tempted in every way, even though he instructs us to pray, lead us not into temptation.

So that tells me something.

It means we want to minimize temptation.

And then at the same time, we want to accept that it will be a part of our everyday life.

And those two realities are held in tension.