“I have worked with Covenant Eyes for over 20 years. In that time, I’ve spent countless hours reading what counselors, sex addiction therapists, bloggers, and now AI summaries have to say about overcoming pornography.”
On one hand, I’m encouraged that despite the worldwide pandemic of porn addiction, it’s never been easier to find resources for recovery. Certainly, we didn’t have this kind of access in the early 2000’s.
The Path to Freedom
But the wealth of information often feels overwhelming. What does Google say? What does ChatGPT say? Is it the same as it was yesterday? How do I know which of the hundreds of self-professed experts I should listen to? What hidden assumptions are baked into the seemingly objective advice being proffered? Who should Christians listen to?
These are epistemological questions—the things philosophers wrestle with about how we know what we know. But today they have direct practical relevance for every one of us, far beyond the specific issue of pornography. Whether you’re seeking guidance for yourself or for someone else, you need to know what that guidance is based on.
Believers in Jesus hold the ultimate standard for measuring the truth: God’s Word. The Bible cuts through all the noise of worldly wisdom. It’s more advanced than the latest neurological research and more practical than the best therapeutic approaches.
This is not a step-by-step guide, but six biblical principles you can use to evaluate everything else. So here’s how to quit porn according to the Bible.
1. Learn What the Bible Has to Say About Pornography
The Bible doesn’t refer explicitly to pornography. Our word “pornography” is a compound of two common biblical words: porneia, “sexual immorality,” and graphe, “writings.
Originally, pornography usually referred to erotic literature rather than images. But as technology advanced, imagery gradually took over.
Though the Bible doesn’t use the exact word, it speaks very plainly about the connection between sexual immorality, lust, and the desires of the heart.
- “But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.” (Ephesians 5:3)
- “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?” (Job 31:1)
- “Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.” (Proverbs 6:25)
- “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)
- Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)
We could look at many similar passages. The Bible clearly condemns the consumption and production of pornography. It’s a sin against the body, and a violation of the very image of God.
The Bible’s Higher Standard
I’ve spoken with many people over the years about sexual temptation, lust, and pornography.
Worldly advice suggests mitigating the negative effects of too much porn by limiting consumption, rather than eliminating it altogether. Scripture pushes us beyond this. But too often, even Christians are just looking for a checklist of what they can and can’t do, and fail to get to the root problem.
Notice how the Bible emphasizes, not a specific type of content, but rather the motives of the heart. The question, “Can a Christian watch XYZ show or movie” is probably the wrong one. A better question is, “Does watching XYZ show or movie cause me to lust?”
Perhaps the best question is, “Am I truly glorifying God and giving thanks to him with this choice of entertainment?” (1 Timothy 4:4).
The Bible doesn’t give a legalistic checklist of things you can and can’t look at with impunity. Rather, God’s Word challenges us to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), and seek to glorify God and give him thanks in all things.
Biblical Teaching on Sex
Really, understanding what the Bible says about pornography is just the beginning. Too often, Christians have a clear sense of the bad side without recognizing what a good and beautiful thing it is that God has created.
It leaves a void that the world is only too happy to fill. We must press deeper into a positive biblical understanding of sex. We must orient our thinking about sex to God’s Word.
2. Pray for Victory Over Pornography
This one is as important as it is often misunderstood.
I need to be clear: there’s no magic formula that Christians can recite to make temptation disappear. I’ve spoken with many Christians who have encountered this idea in the church, and it has left them confused and discouraged about prayer.
In reaction to this idea of prayer, I’ve heard Christian counselors minimize its importance for overcoming pornography. This is a grievous error. Jesus gave us prayer as one of the primary means of grace to make us holy.
- “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
- “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)
- “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-5).
If we take God’s Word seriously, we must embrace the absolute importance of prayer to defeat sin, including pornography. Learning to pray against pornography effectively will transform your struggle.
Prayer means confessing sin
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Prayer and confession set the tempo for the Christian life. We must daily bring our sin and guilt before the Lord and lay it at his feet.
Prayer means time with God
We often take a “vending machine” approach to prayer when it comes to physical or material requests. We want a healing, more money, or a better job, so we just ask for these things and that’s the extent of our prayer.
Prayer means more than just asking God for things we want or saying “thank you” before a meal. While good in themselves (Jesus commanded us to pray for our daily bread), these prayers can reveal a heart that wants God’s gifts more than God himself.
Prayer is spending time with God. It’s our opportunity to converse and enjoy fellowship with God. It’s not “one and done.”
- “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
- “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Prayer conforms us to God’s will
In the mysteries of God’s purposes and plan, he has ordained prayer as a means of accomplishing his will. Yet too often, I find myself attempting through prayer to twist God’s arm. If I just pray hard enough I’ll get what I want. Jesus warned against this.
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:7
Prayer offered in faith changes our hearts and minds and brings them into comfort with God’s will.
Now, clearly, it is God’s will for me and anyone else to stop watching pornography. But the prayer in faith means that I am open to God’s path of freedom—not my own program. It may require difficult sacrifices. To access the help he has made available, I may have to humble myself in ways I never imagined.
Like Jesus, we pray “your will be done.”
Neuroscience tells us that habitual porn use leaves deeply embedded pathways in the brain. Counselors and therapists often talk about “rewiring” the brain from addiction. And time spent in prayer does exactly that.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
3. Find Your Identity in Jesus
The way you see yourself determines how you act.
If shame and fear to control how I see myself, I will act accordingly. The Apostle Paul understood this, and so he encouraged Christians not to fixate on their sin. Rather, they should overcome sexual sin by finding their identity in Christ.
- “And such [sexually immoral] were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)
- “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11)
- “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
What does this mean practically?
- You are honest about your struggles with yourself and with those around—you have nothing to hide because Christ has redeemed you.
- You don’t fixate on your failures. You repent and move on.
- You’re not just looking for ways to block or avoid temptation. Your desires and values are being reshaped.
It means you’re fundamentally reorienting who you are and what you want. Don’t focus on your sin. Focus instead on Jesus, who he is, and what he has done for you.
And that leads to the fourth part. I believe biblically informed counseling can truly help here. This is not just getting therapy, or help with behavior modification, but learning to put your own life story into the context of the biblical story of redemption.
4. Learn How to Die to Self
I won’t lie, this part isn’t fun. But the Bible says that as a Christian you are dead to sin (Romans 6:2). And part of being dead to sin means that on a daily basis, you must die to the old sinful desires that still remain in your heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:29
On the surface, this can sound a bit like “try harder.” But this isn’t about trying to do more. It means shining the light on self-oriented areas in your life, confessing them as sin, and turning them over to Jesus.
On a practical level, it could mean the following for someone who’s fighting temptation:
- Avoiding non-pornographic entertainment that triggers lustful thoughts.
- Giving up your free time on the weekends (so there’s less time for temptation).
- Getting rid of your smartphone.
- Killing your pride by asking someone for help.
This last point is so important that we need to spend some more time on it.
5. Lean On the Body of Christ
Admitting helplessness and crying out for help are basic to the Christian life. You have to acknowledge that sin is beyond your own power and trust Jesus as the only one who can save you.
That’s what we do when we first became believers. But as Christians, it doesn’t stop there. We don’t fly solo. We must confess our sins, not only to God, but to brothers and sisters in Christ who can come alongside us and encourage us in our faith.
- “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)
- “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1)
Too many believers live essentially as “Lone Rangers.” This was never God’s design. We were saved into a believing community, where we live in accountability and mutual support.
If Christ is sufficient, why do we need other people?
Maybe, like me, you’ve felt a bit of tension here. On one hand, we’re affirming that Jesus alone can forgive sin, and we put our trust in him alone. In that sense, I don’t really confess my sins to anyone else. And yet, we see the Bible insist that we need other Christians—we even need to confess our sins to them.
Why is that? Is it a contradiction? No, it’s a misunderstanding based on our individualistic mindset.
It’s true that Jesus has an individual plan of salvation for you and me. But that’s only a small piece of the puzzle. We are saved to be with God, as a group. The Bible gives numerous metaphors to describe this reality.
- The Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-11)
- The Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)
- The Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-9)
- A House (1 Peter 2:5)
More than simply metaphors, these are divinely inspired images of what it means to be connected to Jesus.
Furthermore, I think there’s a very pragmatic reason that Jesus calls us to live out our faith in community: left to ourselves, we are easily discouraged and easily deceived.
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
Living out our faith with other Christians, seeking accountability and encouragement to overcome temptation, puts a tangible, flesh-and-blood experience to the spiritual reality of our relationship with Christ.
6. Let the Spirit Work
For Christians, quitting porn means real heart change. Ultimately, only the Holy Spirit can do this work.
That’s why the Bible doesn’t give us a single, step-by-step process for overcoming sin, such as porn addiction. Indeed, from a human standpoint, it’s impossible for us to overcome any sin.
This is where we must confess our helplessness before God and our utter dependence on his grace. And yet, we also have the incredible promise that we do have the power to change by God’s Spirit.
- He who began a good work in us will see it through to completion (Philippians 1:6).
- We will not be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).
- His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
- We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13).
As Christians, we have been equipped with superhuman power. You and I are connected with Jesus, and you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. We have his divinely inspired guidebook, the Bible.
Not only that, but Jesus equips us through the Church: we’ve been given a family of brothers and sisters to help us grow in our faith, godliness, and victory over sin.
So, I want to encourage you. If you struggle with pornography, you can begin experiencing victory today. Seek help—there’s plenty out there.
Likewise, if you’re trying to disciple another Christian and hold them accountable, take heart. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to consume a thousand blogs or podcasts.
Hold fast to the simple truths of God’s Word, and use the extravagantly gracious means that he has given us.
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