Saturday, 22nd June 2024
Bible Reading: Romans 1: 22-28
Memory Verse: We are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies. We are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:13b (CEV)
Credit to the works of Luke Gilkerson (BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies and MA in Religion). 3 Ways Porn Affects Our Brain include:
1. The brain is “tattooed” with porn: Your brain is designed to remember important situations and events. When you see porn, your brain gets the signal that something important has happened. Consequently, porn can leave an imprint of the image on the brain long after it is viewed. Many people who have quit looking at porn still have their minds full of pornographic images—images that won’t leave. One of our readers recently commented, “Even though I haven’t viewed porn in quite a while, I still have very vivid images on my mind that make me want to go back to it.” This kind of experience with porn is extremely common. Why is that? It’s because of the chemicals at work: norepinephrine, oxytocin, and vasopressin, which work together to form lasting memories. The effect on the brain is that looking at porn, even briefly, can leave your mind with a built-in library of images that you can’t erase. Neuroscientist Dr. William Struthers, the author of ‘Wired for Intimacy’, compares this to a “neurological tattoo, which is difficult to ‘unremember’ or to wipe away.”
2. The brain bonds to porn, not a person: Sex is designed to bond you to a person. With porn, instead of forming a deep connection to a person, your brain ends up “bonding” to a pornographic experience. Your brain remembers where the sexual high was experienced, and each time you desire sexual stimulation, you feel a sharp sense of focus: I’ve got to go back to the porn. In addition to this bonding, pornography gives the brain an unnatural high. Neuroscientist Dr. Donald Hilton says this is because porn is a “supranormal stimulus.” In a popular TEDx talk, physiology teacher Gary Wilson explains that when men look at porn, they experience surge after surge of dopamine in the brain. The brain eventually fatigues, stopping the production of dopamine, leaving the viewer wanting more but unable to reach a level of satisfaction. As a result, everyday pleasures stop causing excitement and the viewer seeks out more novel, more intense pornography to get the same high as before. This imbalance in the brain leads to many problems: impotence with your spouse, frequent masturbation with very little satisfaction, anxiety, fatigue, lack of motivation, inability to concentrate, and escalating tastes for more bizarre or novel porn.
Quote: Looking at porn, even briefly, can leave your mind with a built-in library of images that may be difficult to erase.
Prophetic Decree: May the fire and power in the Blood of Jesus deliver you from the grip of porn, in Jesus name.
Prayer Focus
1. I repent of using my body on the altar of porn and masturbation, in Jesus name.
2. Blood of Jesus, purge every pornographic image and scene playing uncontrollably in my brain in Jesus name.
3. Fire of the Holy Ghost burn the remnant of erotic images and videos in my subconsciousness, in Jesus name.
4. At the junction where the accuser of the brethren is waiting to trigger the memory of past pornographic lifestyle, mercy of God speak for me, in Jesus name.
5. I disconnect my spirit, soul and body from my idolatrous way of life with porn, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 30-31
