What is the spiritual impact of online pornography?\u00a0 I dated a man who used it a lot and even though we are no longer dating, I feel icky about his choice to use this.<\/p>\n\t
Pornography’s impact is the same, whether we discuss pornography distributed over the Internet or found in “adult” stores or seen in titillating magazines. The major difference between the sources is that the Internet allows rapid access to a wide range of pornography with the potential for almost complete anonymity. Because one believes no one is watching them, they believe they are free to look at anything. Hence, people who would have avoided pornography because they might get caught are now engaged in viewing it. The Internet has made pornography into a bigger problem for society, but it has not changed what pornography does to a person.<\/p>\n
When discussing the impact of prostitutes and adulterous women on a man’s life, Solomon asked, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared?<\/i>” (Proverbs 6:27-28). The rude fact is that playing around with sin will impact a person, period. And pornography is a sin. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart<\/i>” (Matthew 5:27-28). To look at a woman with lustful thoughts is equivalent to the act of adultery with that woman. Why? The only difference between longing for sex outside of marriage and actually doing it is the opportunity.<\/p>\n
The reason that your ex-friend’s use of pornography made you feel icky is that pornography changes a person’s view of the relationship between men and women. A man who uses pornography begins to see women simply as objects for his desire. They are just things to be used and then discarded when the novelty wears off. Pornography gives an invalid view of relationships being based solely on lust. A man who gets sensual excitement from a picture is not interested in a woman’s mind or her spiritual interests. But without depth to the relationship, it cannot last because passion based on superficial things dies when the novelty wears off. You probably felt icky when you realized that your ex-friend was only interested in your body and not in you. You realized that you weren’t worth much in his eyes.<\/p>\n
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God<\/i>” (I Thessalonians 4:3-5). The phrase “passion of lust” comes from two Greek words which describe things that arouse unlawful sexual desire (i.e. pornography). It is God’s will for man to hold himself apart for holy purposes and honor. It is against God’s will to pursue pornography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: What is the spiritual impact of online pornography?\u00a0 I dated a man who used it a lot and even though we are no longer dating, I feel icky about his choice to use this. Answer: Pornography’s impact is the same, whether we discuss pornography distributed over the Internet or found in “adult” stores or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[156,226],"class_list":["post-2019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-lust","tag-pornography"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26700,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-say-pornography-is-not-fornication-are-you-not-accepting-pornography\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":0},"title":"If you say pornography is not fornication, are you not accepting pornography?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with \"Is looking at pornography fornication?\" Not that I would divorce my future husband if this was the case, but that I would totally support a lady who does because when you're married to a man, he is the only person who should\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-pornographys-draw\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":1},"title":"What is pornography’s draw?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I don't know if this was already explained, but why are so many people addicted to pornography? More and more people are engaging in this kind of activities. And the viewers get younger and younger. I highly doubt that there are any benefits of pornography. But why? It's really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16357,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-found-out-my-12-year-old-son-is-looking-at-pornography-how-do-i-handle-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":2},"title":"I found out my 12-year-old son is looking at pornography. How do I handle it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son is 12 and is at present in the eighth grade. I have got ample evidence that he is visiting some pornography sites secretly. His friends in the school told him about these dirty web sites and how to find them. How I should handle this issue? We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-should-i-tell-my-future-wife-about-my-pornography-addiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":3},"title":"When should I tell my future wife about my pornography addiction?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I have been a porn addict since I was a teenager and I so far I have not managed to get rid of it. However, I admit that it is sin and am willing to deal with it when God wants to help me. Right now I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-used-to-think-that-pornography-was-just-a-means-of-cooling-ones-sexual-urge-but-now-i-know-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":4},"title":"I used to think that pornography was just a means of cooling one’s sexual urge, but now I know better.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I used to think that pornography was a means of cooling one's sexual urge because I am not yet married. But thanks to your ministry for this great enlightenment and exposure which has made me a conqueror today. Answer: I'm glad the information has helped you to get out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88860,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/helping-christians-addicted-to-pornography\/","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":5},"title":"Helping Christians Addicted to Pornography","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve and Bette Wolfgang via \"The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible: Truth Lectures for 2005,\" Truth Publications, 2005, pp. 84-126; quotation from pp. 116-117. Bette and I have been speaking and writing for decades about the dangers of pornography, beginning at a time when it seemed that virtually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}