Utterly Epidemic!

It’s no secret that sexual addiction has become a huge issue in the United States. Even though the secrecy and shame surrounding sexual issues make it difficult to determine the exact number of people that struggle with pornography or other sexual compulsions, surveys taken in the last dozen years give us a glimpse into the absolute enormity of this problem, even in the Christian community:

• 47% of Christian households said pornography is a problem in their home. (2003 Focus on the Family poll)
• 70% of Christians admitted to struggling with porn in their daily lives. (2007 poll taken by XXX church as reported by CNN.)
• 25% of those with internet access at work viewed porn during work hours (according to 2010 tracking by Nielsen Online)
• 37% of pastors admit that internet porn is a current struggle in their lives. (2001) Christian Today Leadership Survey)

AND. . . the problem doesn’t stop at the U.S. borders. Statistics show that sexual addiction has become a global epidemic. The enemy has found a tool to further his mission of destruction that is no respecter of borders, ethnicity, language, age, or social status. Young, old, rich, poor, Christian and non-Christian—all can get caught in its snare.

The most sobering news, however, isn’t how BIG a problem sexual addiction has become, but how devastating its effect is on every person that it touches.

Many of you are painfully aware of the damage it can do to a person’s heart and life. Your credibility, self-respect and reputation may have been destroyed by this addiction. You may have lost a spouse or a job because of its strangling tentacles. Now, as you struggle to get free of its hold, exhaustion and frustration sometimes wash over you. The enemy tries to tell you that this thing is bigger than you are. He whispers that you can never be free.

The good news is that, in spite of what he tries to tell us, the enemy is NOT in charge here! We are are not obligated to listen to his taunts. He doesn’t get the last word!

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” —1 John 4:4 (NIV)