You know you SHOULD quit looking at porn, but did you know you COULD?

Let me start with this statement: pornography is evil!

For the most part, I would be preaching to the choir if I went on about why pornography is bad. This blog post is for porn addicts who want to quit but honestly don't think they can.

You've been told that porn is bad since you were little. You've tried many times and given up. You know full well that pornography is damaging, and you feel terrible every time you do it. You want to stop it and you know you should.

But did you know that you CAN?

Your problem isn't that you think porn okay. Your problem is that you subconsciously believe in other false ideas that you possibly didn't realize that you believed. The devil is tricky; he helped you believe in these ideas and you didn't realize they were part of his vast arsenal of pernicious lies.

Here are some thoughts you've had that have kept you from dropping this habit:

"I'm just incapable of quitting."

That, my friend, is despair. Despair is totally different from guilt.

Guilt is exactly what you should feel when you sin. That shame you feel is what motivates you to repent and make things right.

However, you should NOT despair. Despair makes you feel like repentance is pointless ("I messed up, always have, always will"). It's unfairly pessimistic on yourself.

Worse, it's the devil's substitute for hope. Yes, that's right. If you despair and give up on yourself, you're doing exactly what Satan (the same trickster whom you let get you into this mess) wants you to do!

Remember what Paul (1 Corinthians 13) and Moroni (Moroni 7) said the 3 greatest virtues are? Faith, HOPE and charity. Yes, believing in yourself is right up there with being nice to people and obeying the Lord.

Believing you can quit (and working hard to do so) is as virtuous as successfully quitting.

And remember this: It's normal to revert to a bad habit before quitting for good.

I'm not gonna look at it, I'm not, I'm not.

Your problem is that your focused on NOT looking at porn. I've heard of people who can truly stop their minds from thinking, but only after years of practice. I'm not like that, I doubt you are, and, besides, you don't need that skill to quit porn.

Focus on replacing it with a positive habit. There are millions of positive hobbies and activities that can make it so that porn never even crosses your mind. Pick one. Pick several.

Additionally, you should set boundaries for yourself to avoid situations where you're tempted to watch porn (i.e. shut your computer off after a certain hour)

I sure miss it. I wish I could just do it again.

This mindset guarantees that you will eventually revert. Have to become disgusted with pornography. You have to remind yourself of the harm it does to you and your family.

When you genuinely despise something, it makes it easier to stay away from it.

If I talk to my bishop about it, he'll be disgusted with me, and he'll embarrass me by telling everyone I know.

He won't be disgusted with you. On the contrary, he'll admire that you had the courage and humility to honestly deal with this problem and seek help.

And bishops are sworn to secrecy. They judiciously maintain confidentiality. They would be in serious trouble if they didn't.

Refusing to see your bishop for fear of embarrassment is like rejecting a lifeguard when you're drowning and saying, "Letting you help me will make me look bad." Even if you did look bad (which you won't) the reward is worth the effort.

CONCLUSION: I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Pornography is a nasty evil. But I'm being equally blunt when I say that you are capable of escaping pornography's snare for good.