Here is a checklist to destroy most (and hopefully all) sources of porn in your life. The effectiveness of this checklist depends on your actions.
Sexual immorality is idolatry. “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
How are we to treat idols? “This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire” (Deuteronomy 7:5).
Are you ready to start? Good. The most important item is at the end of this list.
[ ] Tell someone that you intend to destroy all sources of and access to your pornography, and to take serious preventative measures. Share your plan with this person and ask this person to follow up on your plan. We recommend sharing with another man in whom it is safe to confide. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). If there is no such person in your life you may be able to find a “brother in arms” in your local church (many have men’s groups and recovery programs) or at a local twelve step support group such as SLAA or SLA. You may also wish to confide in a pastor, priest, or counselor. Also Be Free in Christ membership is an excellent way to find a brother in the Lord willing to help you. Remember that you are not alone. This is a very widespread struggle and there is help available! [ ] With complete reckless abandon, scour your house and DESTROY all porn. (This means actual destruction as in DESTROYED. It does not mean giving it to your buddies or friends or leaving it so someone else can find it, even by accident at the city dump. Many a porn addiction has started when a young boy has found porn that someone else got rid of without completely destroying it.) [ ] Choose a destruction method so the materials can no longer be used for their intended purpose, and can NOT be repaired. (Electric shredders are now relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at office supply stores. If you have a fireplace, you can burn them. Use caution if you are burning DVDs, or anything toxic. You need to breathe fresh air. Make sure you have good ventilation and your FLUE IS OPEN so you don’t smoke up your home.) [ ] Take these same actions if you store porn in a storage unit or somewhere else other than your home. [ ] Destroy credit cards that facilitate the use of addiction. [ ] Destroy photos that remind you of addictive encounters. [ ] Destroy business cards that remind you of a past you wish to leave. [ ] Cut off your access to those people that you have been in affairs and unhealthy relationships with. [ ] Destroy the following items in your home or outside your home:[ ] Magazines
[ ] VCR tapes
[ ] DVD’s (break with a hammer, or scratch repeatedly with 25 grit sandpaper)
[ ] Printed images of any kind
[ ] Books that support addictive/sinful behavior of any sort – tear up by the spine of the book.
[ ] Posters – shred into pieces.
[ ] Sex toys (if this applies).
[ ] Lust-inducing magazines (Yes, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit).
[ ] All swimsuit and lingeree pictures, catalogs, and magazines.
[ ] Calendars.
[ ] Written materials or written records of websites or sources where you have found porn.
[ ] Clothes that support or promote the addiction, that have graphic pictures, words, etc., or other features that do not help you.
[ ] Personal items that remind you of a life that you wish to leave.
List here: ____________________________
[ ] Other items not listed here that support your habit:
List here: ____________________________ [ ] Note that you morally cannot throw out something that belongs to someone else. If your wife has lingeree catalogs, you can ask her to get rid of them or keep them out of sight. If you have a roommate that keeps porn and doesn’t want to give it up, you can (and almost certainly should) move out.
Now, for your computer and computer related activity apply the following steps:
[ ] Take your computer and put it in FULL VIEW IN THE MOST occupied place in your home!!! (This addiction thrives in the dark – Get your computer out of the shadows!)
software.
[ ] Reformat all external disk drives where you have stored pornographic/lustful images. (This includes external hard drives, thumb drives, zip disks, floppy disks, etc.) [ ] Destroy computer CD’s and DVD’s. [ ] Destroy or reformat any other electronic storage media containing pornographic or lustful images. [ ] Delete any files containing records of websites or sources where you have found porn. [ ] Now cut off access to pornographic images over the internet: Filter your computer. [ ] Also do not delude yourself by thinking you can view “safer” images or web sites. There is no such thing as a “safer” site. You must admit that you are deluding yourself with these “safer sites,” so you and you alone have the responsibility to do something about this little sneaky/peeky game that leads you to something worse. This is like an alcoholic saying “I won’t drink, I’ll just lick the outside of this glass of rum.” You wouldn’t drink just a “safe” amount of strychnine, would you? [ ] Remove Cable TV channels that show “adult” movies (HBO, etc.) Or if your family must have these channels, use the blocking feature to remove access to porn. Let someone else have the password. [ ] Call your phone company and place a block on area code 900 phone calls. [ ] End magazine subscriptions that fuel your addiction (including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit – you can ask that magazine company to alter your current subscription so you do NOT receive that one issue, but still receive all other true sports issues). [ ] End subscriptions to all inappropriate material including: [ ] Magazines[ ] Movies and videos
[ ] Catalogs that are inappropriate for you. (Yes, including Victoria’s Secret.)
[ ] Books and any other material that fuel your addiction.
[ ] Remove bumper stickers or license plate frames on your cars that remind you of a lifestyle you wish to leave behind. [ ] Replace the car-scent thing that hangs in your car with one without graphic pictures. [ ] Remove all the images from your locker at the gym. [ ] Change your dining and entertainment routines so that you are not exposed to temptation. (This can mean different things for different people.) [ ] If your addiction is one with another person other than your wife, restore yourself with your wife and do whatever is necessary to end the wrong relationship. Get guidance from a pastor, priest, counselor, or close friend who has a lot of integrity. [ ] When staying at hotels, tell the front desk to unauthorize the naughty cable channels or ask them to remove the television from the room. [ ] When traveling, cut off access to internet service unless expressly required for your work. (Try to arrange for filtered internet or accountability in some form.) [ ] When traveling, make arrangements with your wife or a friend with integrity to call them when you arrive at the hotel. Let them know you are not going to the wrong places. Be honest. [ ] Make a commitment NOT TO RETURN to your past. [ ] Maintain this by finding someone to be accountable to so that you will not slip back to old ways. [ ] LASTLY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY – Develop a spiritual hunger for God – the closer you draw to God, the less and less you will want porn.
The Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner … then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him” (Judges 6:25-27, NASB).