The Purity Project of OKC

Let me begin this post by admitting that I have had a lifelong struggle with pornography and had, what I would consider, a very serious problem with it for fifteen years.  By God’s grace, I have been totally free and delivered for more than a year and a half.  Now that isn’t a long time by some standards; but, for those of us who have tried to be free of these addictions and compulsions it is nothing short of a miracle.  I didn’t do this on my own and I cannot take any credit for the fact that I am now enjoying the freedom I have today.  God did this work in me because he is merciful and desires to show you and others that his power can do what seems impossible to us.  God wants to reach down into the pit we are in and deliver us from the terrible guilt, shame and blame that we feel.  This purpose of this post is to share with you the beginnings of my journey that began almost two years ago.

Becoming sexually pure is a journey that begins with three simple steps.  For some people, these can be very difficult because we have not been the kind of people who actually trusted God to help us in our weaknesses.  In fact many of us prayed for years that God would free us from our affliction of lust and temptation; and, it just didn’t happen.  There is a reason for that; God wants us to choose him over our desire for pornography and sexually immorality.

I Can’t

The first step is a paradox.  We must admit to God, and another human being, that we are powerless to overcome the sexual temptations that have been enslaving us for such a long time.   As long as you think there is one more thing you can do or try to rid yourself of this problem, God is going to let you try. 

All of the people of the OKC Purity Project have tried about everything there is to try.  We’ve prayed, read our Bibles, confessed to our wifes, gone to counseling and therapy, made multiple promises and read hundreds of books.  We gone back into our past, studied our inner child, snapped rubber bands on our wrists until we had big red whelps, and quit cold turkey thousands of times.  There are people in the Purity Project who are more disciplined than you might imagine.  Some have Doctorate degrees, some are teachers, sales representatives, ministers and successful business owners.  All of us have the discipline to do amazing things in our lives; but, we could never stay stopped when it came to the issue of pornography and other sexual addictions.  You see, the problem is greater than any of our abilities to overcome on our own.  The truth we had to face is that we are powerless to stop doing what we’ve been doing on our own.  But the wonderful paradox is this: when we admitted this to ourselves, another person and God–something wonderful began to happen.

We learned that God cannot work in a person who thinks that he or she can solve their own problems; but he will work in a person who admits that they can’t handle this on their own.  God is a God of free will and he will never stop or keep you from doing what you want to do.  He’ll never interfere with your decision to act out sexually or stop the lustful thoughts you enjoy.  God is going to let you make your own choices.  Sexual problems are a GOD SIZED problem and we had to realize that. Here is how we did it: With a trusted friend, minister, elder, or family member we:

1. Confessed that we had a problem,
2. Admitted that we had tried all kinds of things and had failed,
3. Confessed defeat by admitting we were powerless to stop our behaviors on our own.

Maybe you need to do the same thing.  All of us here at the Purity Project are here to help you; and, if you contact us, we’ll be happy to help you in your first step.

God Can

Admitting that we are powerless isn’t the same thing as giving up hope that we can ever be helped–though it might seem that way.  When we admit that we are powerless, we decide to turn to something or someone else to help us–that something else is God.  This can be a problem for some–especially those who aren’t sure if they believe in God.  All I can say is that God believes in you–whether or not you believe in him.  Also, some of us mistakenly thought we had turned to God when we had not.  We had not surrendered our problems because we were still trying to solve it on our own.  Sure, we had prayed hundreds of prayers for help; but, we had never first admitted that we were totally powerless to do anything about our problems on our own.

There is no problem that God cannot solve. God doesn’t wring his hands about any problem in your life and say "Oh, I just don’t know what I can do about Joe’s problem." God doesn’t say, "I had such great plans for Joe but now he’s gone and ruined everything and I just don’t know what I can do."  We humans think like this–but God does not.  God can deliver you from this problem–or any problem.  If you can admit this possibility, you are ready for the next step.

I think I’ll let him

If you have done the first two steps, you are ready for this one.  We must agree to let God solve this problem the way HE wants to solve it. 

In the past I would ask God to solve a problem and immediately start trying some new idea–and it never worked.  I would ask God to solve a problem and tell him exactly what I needed–and that never worked either.  When we let God solve our problems, we let him do it his way.  We make an agreement with God that he is in charge of our change.  God will show us the way out. 

In my case, God led me to a group of people that I had never met before.  He led me to a special group of people at Henderson Hills Baptist Church.  I am not a Baptist and I had never even been to that church.  Even today, I am not a member of that Church; but interestingly enough, I go to that church weekly–sometimes multiple times!  I may attend more than some of their own members! :)  The point is, I never thought that God would have me meet with a group of people at HHBC.  God is like that.  He’ll help you find what you need and it may be something totally different that you expected.

God is waiting for you to give him an opportunity to work in your life.  But it begins with you making a humble decision to let God be God in your life and to let Him change you the way he wishes to do so.

Recap

If you wish to be free of the bondage, shame, blame and guilt you are in; it’s time for you to admit you are powerless to stop doing what you have been doing, admit that God can help you and make the decision to let Him do so.  Your best thinking has got you where you are today.  What have you got to lose by trying these three steps?

Why not contact someone from the Purity Project today and let us help you get started.  We’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do and we won’t pressure you to join our church or change your religion–or be religious at all.  We will help you to learn how to find your freedom.  We know how to help you do these steps. 

I began this post by sharing a personal testimony; and, now I’d like to share one more thing.  I stand amazed at the power of God that was released in my life when I took these simple steps.  My life today isn’t problem free–but it is sexually pure.  I owe it all to God’s grace that released in my life when I had the courage to do the things I have asked you to do as well.  I wish you God’s blessings.