Fallen Heroes: A Devotional for Dads Who Struggle With PornSample

My wife started experiencing sharp knee pain when she went running, particularly when she was going uphill. Knees are a high-impact joint, but she’d never been injured there. What was the problem? 

It turns out, her knee was perfectly fine. The pain was caused by tightness in the surrounding joints and ligaments. The underlying cause of the pain was different from the actual pain point. Porn can be the same way. We usually think of porn as specifically a lust problem. However, porn is often triggered by other sins buried beneath the surface.  

Earlier we saw how wounds we’ve received in the past can keep us in bondage. But pride is another big reason that hero-dads often struggle with porn. 

Psalm 68:28-31 warns those who hold on to pride instead of turning to God and crying out for help. You may be thinking, “I have a problem with porn—pride is the last sin that I’m struggling with right now.”

But think about the ways that pride fuels porn: 

• Pride says you deserve to look at porn.  
• Pride motivates you to hide your porn use to save your heroic image. 
• Pride tells you that you’re a strong enough hero to handle it on your own instead of seeking accountability to other believers.  
• Pride tells you that you’ve beaten lust for good and you can let down your guard. 

Ouch. Kinda hurts doesn’t it? One day, everybody’s pride will be broken. Like the hidden origins of knee pain, one day we’re going to see the roots of all our spiritual pain, and pride is going to be at the bottom of a lot of it. That’s all the more reason to ask God to show you your pride and humble you now. 

Kill the pride today!

Reflection:

1. Think about the ways that pride can fuel porn. Do any of these apply to you? If not today, have any of these been true of you in the past? 

2. One way to crush pride is by admitting your weakness to someone else. If you haven’t already, find an ally to help keep you accountable!