Religion?

Yes and no. It can make it worse if you have a theology that views God as an angry and wrathful God who punishes sinners, but on the other hand, if you have a theology where God is loving and kind it can help. Unfortunately, many churches shame those who struggle with porn and shame increases the addiction.

 

In Christianity we are saved by grace through faith and not of works. All we need to do is believe and trust the gospel and the gospel is Jesus the son of God died for our sins was buried and rose again on the 3rd day and we get imputes holiness perfection and righteousness and we can never ever lose salvation and PROMISES we will be completely transformed it’s called being born again. I was a meth addict. I was either going to die or be in jail for a long time and God transformed me, just like his word says!

 

Ask Jesus if he’s real my friend and really believe and he will show you he is real trust me

 

Religion just means a system of faith. Atheist believe nothing exploded and created everything right? That’s technically very religious

 

I personally believe that it helps. Meditation has helped me quite a bit. It helps to believe that God will never give you more than you can handle. I don't believe one should become a christian just because they want God to heal them. One should do it because they feel the conviction in their heart that the Son of God died for them, taking on the penalty that they deserve.

I don't mean to get too preachy, but I think you understand my point.

 

Hey there and welcome to noFap.
It is a fair question you raise. As a Christian that has struggled with sexual addiction for over 40 years I will say that faith doesn't necessarily make it easier.
Addiction has no respect for creed, color, or gender. The percentage of people in any faith system that stuggle with addiction is basically the same as those who do not profess to any specific faith. So just as there are professing men and women who have addictions, there are those without a religion that do not struggle in this way.
The challenge for those in religious communities is that addiction is often shamed and many struggle alone and without hope. They can feel such condemnation because they can't just walk away from these behaviors that have so much power in their lives. It leaves many questioning their faith or the God that would let them fall to such depths.
Personally, I believe that my God has climbed down into those depths and pulled me free, again and again, and shown me love and acceptance though others that know Him.

Either way, recovery without community is not possible. Addiction is basically an antisocial disorder. Usually traceable to some breakdown in our core community or society. And it brings with it a whole truck load of antisocial behaviors; isolating, lying, cheating, objectifying others, entitlement etc. just to name a few. As we learn to be honest with ourselves in a safe community we can start to explore and repair what has broken us inside.
Getting free from the behaviors such as PMO, drunkenness, drugs, whatever, is an important first step. It is however, just the first step. If you don't dig past the behavior to find what got you there, you will have another opportunity to do so.
Best wishes to you on the journey my fellow traveler.

 

Great post there man!

 

Same in Judaism.
As for dealing with the addiction, over time, I've found that quite a few ideas here on the site have already been mentioned in Jewish works.

 

This is awesome. Thank you.

 

Well, as far as I know Islam allows masturbation lol

 

Religion isn’t necessarily about making things easier on oneself. While most think of religion as an organization, the premis of religion or the act of religion, is the virtue of giving God the glory and worship God rightly deserves.

What does this mean? It means religion is about a relationship; God is the one you love so you take it upon yourself follow what God has stated, through revelation, what He desires. The premis in religion is that you’re doing this because you love the God who created you and who has your best interestes in mind.

So is religion beneficial? Well, yes, I would say having a relationship with God is beneficial, especially if you’re growing in love with God. The more you grow the more receptive you are to God’s grace. While God’s grace is always beneficial on some level, we can retard the benefits that come from grace when we are acting in a way which makes us unreceptive (sin) to it. You see God gives His love, but we still have to choose to accept it, and like with any relationship this is a daily thing.

 

Religion did not help me to get rid from porn when I was a religious guy. Instead, science has helped me to see how harmful porn does to us.

 

I'm a stone cold Atheist, so Religion likely won't work for me. You either believe in something or you don't. Period. It's like trying to convince yourself you have $100 in your pocket. You either have it or you don't.

Non-belief does not mean you can't have a moral compass, however. For example, there are "rules" in the Bible (commandments) that I agree with and think they are great habits to implement into one's life. The fact that I don't believe in God does not mean I can't follow the teachings or scriptures that were attributed to Him. After all, they were written down by someone, otherwise they wouldn't be here at all (even if I believe they were written down by a group of men in the 4th Century AD).

 

Atheists have a variety of beliefs about how the Universe came to be. About the only thing we all have in common is that we accept that these beliefs are just theories without any proof. That means that if someone in the future does come along with some proof, we'll accept that proof as real. Personally, I have no idea how the Universe came to be, I just don't believe anybody else on Earth today does either. I know the theory of a supreme creator is a popular one, but for me it doesn't explain how the creator came to be. It seems whatever we believe, something had to come from nothing.

 

I dont think it makes it any easier no matter what religion you believe in.

 

James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

work on yourself thats all that matters. religion or no religion

 

I am religious, yet I was unable to control my sexual desires for many years, initially by masturbating to sexual fantasies (and later via porn). In fact, my inability to conform to the moral compass I had put a terrible strain on my relationship with God. I attempted suicide because I believed (at one time) that I had no value in God's eyes because of my actions and death was a kind of justice to be meted out. Consequently, I attempted to execute myself because of my remorse.

I do not think the key is religion per se. I think that spirituality or a relationship with a higher being is what makes a big difference. So, the problem I had is that my addiction (to MO for decades and PMO in more recent years), became a stumbling block between God and me. Initially prayers felt strengthening and reassuring. But over time my prayers became less fervent because of the guilt I experience as I continued with the same sin(s) over and over again. Eventually, my supplications felt empty. I retain the moral compass, but my bond with God is tenuous these days. *sigh*

 

It has been motivating for me in the sense that if I can stay away from porn/sin I can have a deeper relationship with Jesus and receive the benefits that go with it. Honestly probably would have given up if I I didn’t believe this. Kind of like the covenant with Sampson from the Bible regarding not cutting his hair. That was his connection to Gods strength. Our covenant with God is through a relationship with Jesus and when we willingly choose sin we in a sense cut off our source of strength. The good news is we can grow back that relationship just as Sampson did with his hair. Though we still may carry the scarres that come from our battles.

 

Everybody has a moral compass. You know right from wrong all on your own. You dont need a law to tell you it's bad to kill.

Not that I'm trying to discount religion. I'm a Christian, myself. But I believe that all humans are created in the image of God, which means you reflect the glory of God whether you believe in Him or not. You have a "conscience" just by your very nature, because you were made in His image.