Addiction

A few years ago I had a problem. I was addicted to Spider Solitaire. That may seem like a really weird thing to be addicted to, but it was really bad. I played it too much. I got to the point where I would think about it all the time. When I closed my eyes - even for a prayer - the cards would appear. I would have dreams about the cards taking on humanistic roles, representing real people. They took up my time, moved into my mind, and wreaked havoc in reality. I decided enough was enough. I stopped cold turkey. Yes - it was hard. I went through withdrawals. I even missed it for a little while. But then, slowly, I got better. People turned back into people. I was no longer distracted during prayers, and I was able to focus on Christ. I became me again.

At church this past Sunday we talked about the danger of pornography, and how to protect your family from the destruction that comes from it. There were lots of comments and suggestions. I think that of course teaching your children and cultivating an atmosphere where you can feel comfortable talking about anything is important. People mentioned that pornography can come in different forms. Images we see. Movies we watch, and words we read. Pornography can be a real and serious addiction. Just as real as drugs, alcohol, and gambling. 

What an addiction does is change your brain. The very way you think. It's always on your mind. You want more of it. It takes over your life. It distracts you from what is really important: Being productive. Moving forward. Serving others. Coming closer to Christ. In fact, it does the opposite. It is almost as if it becomes the thing you worship.

I think that a lot of people don't associate smaller things with it. Simple things. Seemingly innocent things. Music with a good beat, but awful lyrics ("I don't listen to the words anyway..." is not an excuse) and the jokes we tell ("That's what she said" and adding "in bed" to the end of things). These jokes change the way we think. They take something innocent and make it "dirty". They take something incredibly sacred and private and turn it into something common and crude.

Fortune Cookie: You will have much success in the near future

The good thing is that we can change. We can stop cold turkey and become ourselves again. We can fill our time with worthwhile things that make us better people and bring us closer to Christ and being Christ-like. And eventually jokes can turn back into jokes, not dirty jokes.