“Five Steps to Luby’s” Part 3

Have you ever stopped to think about how much money is generated every year from the porn industry?  Here are some statistics.  The number of porn web pages on the Internet has increased 1,800% over the past five years.  Worldwide it is estimated to be a $97 billion industry and the United States contributes over $13 billion to that figure.  ABC, NBC, and CBS combined revenue in a given year is around $6.2 billion.  Porn is big business and it is not going away.

There are many things that bother me about porn but one that troubles me the most is how our culture views it.  We laugh about it.  It is often portrayed in the media, on TV, and in the movies as an accepted fact of life and that it has no ill affects.  The truth is that people get addicted to porn.  I know of no other addiction that we treat this way.  We fight drug and alcohol addiction.  We know how they destroy lives but we hear very little about how porn destroys lives.  Let me set the record straight – porn destroys lives and worst of all, it destroys marriages.

Men who engage in porn activities connect with an image.  There is no feeling, no emotion, no intimacy.  It goes against everything that God designed when he created sex.  Yes, God created sex and he created it for us to enjoy in the confines of a marriage relationship.  I say it often, “the best sex ever happens in a Christian marriage.”  In a marriage where two people care for each other, share with each other and are unselfish with each other, the sexual relationship can bloom and flourish for a lifetime.  This was God’s plan.

As men, we have a hard time understanding how devastating porn can be to our wives.  To them, it is like we have had an affair.  I have had many women say to me, “why would he look at that when he has me?”  That is a tough question to answer because, really, why would you trade the intimacy of marriage for a cheap imitation? Why would you choose an imitation that lasts a short while over intimacy that can last your whole life?  We have been deceived and the root of the deception is money.  Web sites will entice you and make promises to you just to get you to spend your money.  The promises are empty and the money is gone.  Then there is the guilt and shame that many men experience.  They cover their tracks with lies and soon trust in the marriage is destroyed.  Don’t believe the lies.

So what is the bottom line?  The bottom line is simple.  If you have never been into porn, don’t go there.  If you are into it, get out.  Get out before you lose everything that is of value to you.  Quit lying to yourself.  Admit you have a problem and get help.  That is it.  That is as blunt as I can be about this subject.  I implore you to let God bring you out of the dark and into the light that He has created.  Nothing compares to His gift of sex in marriage.