“What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” -John 3:5
Nicodemus represents that part in many of us that compartmentalizes our faith. It may be all well and good to earnestly sit in a pew on Sunday morning and give thanks to God, but what about the rest of your life? Is there a part of my life that I don’t want to invite God into? Do I act differently around co-workers because I don’t want them to know I am Christian? Do I compartmentalize my own life and, in the darkness of my innermost self, not invite Jesus to help me through difficult aspects of life?
As someone who has many deeply personal conversations with people, it’s obvious to me that online porn is ravaging not just the young, and not only men. You would be surprised to know how many people struggle with their use of porn. It’s an epidemic. Porn destroys our sense of self and it destroys how we look at the other, in their otherness, as beloved children of God. It results in a deep sense of shame, fueled by a powerful addictive cocktail that takes a devastating toll on our identity.
The intimacy of sex is beautiful. Porn is not. It’s ugly. It destroys through a process of degrading the self and other.
Do you struggle with the use of porn? It is possible to heal from it and to restore the brokenness you experience inside yourself and in your relationships with others. Here are two links that you may find helpful, one is American and the second is Canadian:
United States Council of Catholic Bishops:
https://www.usccb.org/topics/marriage-and-family-life-ministries/pornography
Jake Khym is a Vancouver-based clinician who co-hosts “Way of the Heart Podcast.”
https://www.wayoftheheartpodcast.com/jake-khym/
I pray you open this compartmentalized part of your life to Christ, and to reach out to a trusted friend for compassionate support.
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