Hey, so this probably isn't the first quitting porn video you've seen on YouTube. But in this video, I've consolidated the advice I've given over the years into nine steps. If you want to be free from porn, keep watching. Step one, answer this question. How would your life look if you were free from porn? How would it change your relationship with God, with other people, your goals, your mental health? Take your time in answering this question, but in doing this, you're developing a better vision for the future, where you step into healthy sexuality. Step two, become friends with girls, or if your girl become friends with guys. Porn dehumanizes people, and isolation makes dehumanization easier. Consistent interaction with the opposite sex is not only going to help you humanize them, but it's also going to help you with important social skills, like asking good questions and curiously listening. I'm not an expert at this, but I've heard that if you want to become friends with girls, you actually need to talk to them. It's scary, but you can do it. Step three, identify triggers. Ask yourself, honestly, what are the triggers that lead me to pornography? Is it isolation, loneliness, depression, anxiety that deep need for connection and intimacy? Now, the next part is how can Jesus enter that pain, that longing, that desire, that struggle? We try to get pornography to fill holes that pornography can never fill. God wants an intimate relationship with you, and He will heal and fill those places that pornography once took up when pornography is gone. I never said these steps were going to be easy. In fact, this is one of the most challenging ones, but it's also one of the most important ones. I want you to open up to a couple people that are really close to you, that you trust. This might be a friend, or a parent, or a mentor. Sin needs to be exposed to the light, and if you feel like I'm not ready to do this, then you are not ready to overcome porn. Listen to me for a second. Really listen to me. Put away all the distractions that are keeping you from really making this life-changing movement in your life and pay attention. Okay, all that weight on you, all that guilt, all that shame, you shouldn't have to bear that alone. Share that with someone else. It will free you. My goodness, when I've done this, when I've confessed these things to other people in my life, it frees you. It makes you light because it means that this does not have to be you. You can make a change in your life. You can follow God. This doesn't have to be something that you hide, but rather expose the light so that you can be free from it. Step 5, get a texting buddy. Ask one of those people that you opened up to if you can text them every time you're tempted. Now, for some people, this might get annoying to them, and that's why it's important to ask some of that you actually trust and that you're close with. They can actually receive these texts, maybe give you a word of encouragement. But ultimately, that's not the main point of why we're doing this. Because even just the act of texting them is going to put up a wall between you and that temptation. It's not just a private act anymore because you brought it into the light. You've exposed it. You've shared it with them. You are taking porn's power away. Step 6, is this the one? Should I use my pinky? Step 6, identify temptation times and places. What I mean by this is identify when you're most tempted. Is it throughout the day? Is it in the evening? Is it in the middle of the night? Let's say it's when you get home from work or school you're super tempted. What I want you to do is be really intentional with scheduling things in that place. So whether that means meeting up with a friend right away, going for a walk in a park, having an activity, or something else that you're doing, keep you busy. We need to keep ourselves out of the temptation zone. If you get tempted at night, put your phone in another room. Get an alarm clock. You don't need your phone when you go to bed. If you get tempted in the middle of the night and you can't fall back asleep, replace it with something like YouTube or TV. Do anything to keep away from pornography. Whether that means getting up and getting something to eat, don't feed the pornography urge. Step 7, prayer and reminder. I want you to set three alarms for yourself every day. One in the morning, one at noon at lunch, and one in the evening. This will be a reminder to pray and reorient your heart towards God. Simply say, Lord, thank you for who you are. Make me keenly aware of your presence and power in my life. Let me flee temptation and pour into the mission that you have given me. Amen. We are called to pray without ceasing. And this is a good start. Step 8, get fed. Pick a time in the day to read your Bible. The Bible is God's word to us in spiritual food. If you're new to the Bible, I'd encourage you to start in the book of John. Read a chapter, reread a chapter, and if you're having trouble understanding it, I'd encourage you to look up the Matthew Henry commentary online. It's free. If we actually want to break free from sin, we need to be fueled by God's word. Step 9, make a goal. Other than your goal to break free from porn, I want you to pour yourself into another goal. Whether that's learning how to play guitar, or maybe learning how to cook, or reading a book every couple weeks. Do not relent once you've set your goal. This will give you a sense of movement and intentional progress that is essential in your life. So I think that about wraps it up here. Oh, I think I'm getting a call. Sorry, sorry. Hello? There's a bonus step. Are you joking right now? Is this the most corny joke you've ever made? Pretty much in a video? Oh my. Okay, well, there's a bonus step, ladies and gentlemen. I am so sorry for doing that. That was just... I should probably cut that out of the video, but I'm not going to. The bonus step is remember your why. What is the reason you want to quit porn? Maybe it's because you want better relationships, or you want to spend your time in a better way. Those are good and valid reasons. But think about this. We have all rebelled against God. We've all sinned against him. But even in our sin, Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And he gave his life for us. And so now we are given the power and his presence to walk in victory and in freedom. And we love God so much. We ought to love God so much because he has given his life for us. He sacrificed himself for us. So I think our primary motive in getting free from porn. Apart from all these other things that are good, it should be I want to glorify God. I love God so much. I want to obey him. And you know what? Through that redemption we find in his death, he is inviting us into an intimate relationship with him. How amazing is that? I'm honestly so excited for you, like that vision that we formed at the beginning of the video of what your life could look like when you're free from pornography. You can step into that. And Christ is inviting you into that victory. It's amazing. Let me know how your journey is going in the comments down below. Thank you to everyone that gives on Patreon. It's because of your guys support that I can make content like this that helps point people to Jesus and helps people follow Jesus daily. And if that's a mission you want to get behind, head to the link in my bio and become a patron for $5 a month. That would be an amazing blessing to me. It's my mission to be able to help people follow Jesus daily. And you enabled me doing that by supporting on Patreon. So thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this video and I will see you next time. God bless.