August 15
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to ….the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)
This verse indicates that not only desires of the flesh can be indulged but also desires of the mind. Sinful desires of the mind I think include pride, hardness of heart, selfishness, fear, greed, and the like. I also think that viewing pornography may also at least partly be in this category. For those of you who struggle with this sin, think carefully about what is going through your mind before and during these sinful indulgences. Are there not conscious decisions being made by the mind, before and during these failures?
For example, pornography viewing may start with curiosity about what is out there or even disbelief that so much immorality is so readily available. [WARNING! DON’T EVER BE CURIOUS ABOUT EVIL, ESPECIALLY IN THIS AREA. DON’T EVER WONDER HOW BAD IT MIGHT BE OR TO WHAT EXTENT OUR SOCIETY HAS FALLEN. KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT THE INTERNET MAKES INSTANTLY AVAILBLE IN GRAPHIC DETAIL MANY EXTREMELY EVIL AND DECADENT BEHAVIORS AND THAT THE WORST OF IMMORALITIES IS DEPICTED IN ABUNDANCE AND IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION. If you have never stumbled in this area and have not seen what is out there, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not ever get curious or expose your mind to these things. Even if you have internet filters, they can be circumvented to an extent by those determined to do so. Be extremely vigilant in this area; never expose your mind to it.]
Another way our minds sin in this area is by quenching the Spirit and our consciences. When we decide to expose our minds to these evils, we are saying “no” to the Spirit’s warnings that these things are evil and an abhorrence in God’s sight, we are saying “no” to prudence and wisdom, we are saying “who cares” to our conscience’s reminders of how damaging viewing pornography can be to our minds, hearts, and general well-being. We are saying “no” to discipline, getting rest, or working on all the other things we know we ought to be doing. We DECIDE to engage in that activity, consciously and deliberately. The mind DECIDES to “escape” and allow itself to be immersed in sin. And the mind repeatedly quenches the warnings our consciences give us to stop viewing pornography.
Also, the way I think of this area, and of course I could be off on this, it is the mind or brain primarily that is stimulated by pornography. The rest of the body, the flesh, is aroused and stimulated to some extent, but I think it is mainly chemicals in the brain that are being stimulated. One might think it is the gonads that are mostly stimulated by viewing pornography, but I think it is the mind, primarily, and the excitement and arousal that comes from seeing the nakedness and forbidden, immoral things. Pornography stimulates the imagination to an extreme extent, unfortunately toward evil, and this stimulation of the imagination for evil I view as sins of the mind. The body may for the most part eventually become bored or tired. But because the brain is being hyper-stimulated with chemicals and hormones, pornography becomes addictive. These addictions may draw in the rest of the body and the heart and be corrupting and addicting for them as well, but the way I see it, viewing pornography is a deliberate and repeated choice of the mind, usually premeditated, a rebellion against God for the purposes of stimulating and exciting the mind and imagination towards evil. The seat and source of the initial decision to do so and the agent of continued resistance to any thought which would disengage the person from such activities once started is the mind, and the primary organ being stimulated, where the mind is located, is the brain.
But ultimately, I think the root sins of viewing pornography boil down a lot of time to either pride – we think we can expose ourselves to evil and not be too negatively affected by it, or foolishness – we don’t really care about the consequences, we just like the passing pleasure it brings us. These both in my view are sins of the mind and are evil.