{"id":23794,"date":"2010-06-15T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-16T03:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=23794"},"modified":"2020-07-10T22:13:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T03:13:33","slug":"can-i-purify-my-soul-after-looking-at-pornography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-purify-my-soul-after-looking-at-pornography\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I purify my soul after looking at pornography?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Hello sir.<\/p>\n

Before reading the\u00a0article, “A Look at Pornography<\/a>,” I had not gotten involved with prostitutes or anything of that sort. I recently was frustrated with academics and as a refreshment, I watched some porn. At some point I thought of going to a prostitute, but, sir, now I have decided after reading your article that my thoughts were wrong. Can I purify my soul now and in the future and grow godly? Will mercy on me be shown?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

As you now realize, pornography isn’t true entertainment. It is designed to use pleasure as a means of trapping you in sin and for the promoters of pornography to get money out of your wallet. Like other sins, it rarely stops with one occurrence or just that type of sin. Sinners are pushed to go further and deeper into sin.<\/p>\n

I’m glad you learned about the dangers and saw where it would like you. All sins can be forgiven, including sensuality and fornication. If you aren’t a Christian, it is past time that you start following the Lord. The article, “How to Become a Christian<\/a>” explains this in greater detail. If you are a Christian, God has told us how we may be forgiven. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:9). Along with admitting you did wrong, we are told that we must turn away from our sins as well. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death<\/em>” (II Corinthians 7:10).<\/p>\n

Use your spare time to do productive things that benefit other people. Have fun, but in ways that do not involve sin. “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hello sir. Before reading the\u00a0article, “A Look at Pornography,” I had not gotten involved with prostitutes or anything of that sort. I recently was frustrated with academics and as a refreshment, I watched some porn. At some point I thought of going to a prostitute, but, sir, now I have decided after reading your…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1571,226],"class_list":["post-23794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-forgiveness","tag-pornography"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-break-the-habit-of-looking-at-pornography-and-visiting-prostitutes\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":0},"title":"How do I break the habit of looking at pornography and visiting prostitutes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, Good morning. I am a married man with two small kids. I have a habit of looking at pornography and visiting prostitutes. Please help me by providing a solution to get out of this habit. Please help me. Answer: Suppose someone came up to you and said,\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":27691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-get-rid-of-the-sin-of-pornography\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":1},"title":"How do I get rid of the sin of pornography?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I want to know how I can get rid of my sins. Actually, I am from a Christian family. I grew up in a good environment, but about six months ago I started seeing unwanted movies on the Internet. I know it was very sinful, and after\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":49658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-should-i-tell-my-future-wife-about-my-pornography-addiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":2},"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":60020,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thanks-for-the-article-lies-pornography-tells-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":3},"title":"Thanks for the article “Lies Pornography Tells Men”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for taking the time to write the article titled \"Lies Pornography Tells Men.\" \u00a0I have been open quite often (maybe even too much, thinking transparency will help me) about an ongoing struggle with pornography since my late teens (I'm now in my late fifties).\u00a0 Any of the\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":[]},{"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":23794,"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":2037,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-pornography-change-a-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":23794,"position":5},"title":"Does pornography change a person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My ex-boyfriend told me when I shared with him that it hurt my feelings he was using pornography, \"Well, good riddance to a woman like that!\u00a0 Everybody does it!\u00a0 Guys use it to get off.\"\u00a0 He would also say things like, \"It took me two years to get over\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23794","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=23794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}