<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A friend recently mustered the courage to confide in me about his struggle with pornography and masturbation. And my immediate response surprised him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank God!\u201d<\/strong> Confused he asked, \u201cThank God?\u201d I opened the book of James and shared with him this encouragement straight from scripture..<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 James 1:2\u20134 (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n What if this was your mindset too? Let me give you a picture to help you understand this. Did you ever have chickenpox as a child? If you did, great! \u2018Cause once you\u2019ve had it, you\u2019re likely immune for life. So if you had chicken pox growing up, today you can sit right next to someone going through it without getting infected because your body has already overcome it. So today I want you to shift in your mind about how you see your struggle and count it all joy<\/em>. Not because its easy, but because victory is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this wrestling match with addiction, you are NOT a victim, you\u2019re a victor<\/strong> \u201c\u2026So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon, your testimony will become someone else\u2019s survival guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What are some words you\u2019ve used to describe yourself that paint you as a victim in this struggle with addiction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What would it look like to start seeing yourself as a victor? How will you begin to speak to\/about yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am not defined by my struggle. I am growing in patience and endurance. I am a victor in Christ so I always win!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd Prayer <\/p>\n\n\n\n A friend recently mustered the courage to confide in me about his struggle with pornography and masturbation. And my immediate response surprised him. \u201cThank […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotional"],"acf":{"choi\u0441e_menu_page":"global_settings","full_width":false,"header_transparent":false,"header_white":false,"menu_type_page":"default","menu_align_page":"default"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4498"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5279,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions\/5279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therootcourse.com\/devotional\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Yes, thank God\u201d I repeated. \u201cBecause God is about to do a powerful work in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
What if, instead of feeling shame or defeat over this addiction you started to see the end result as a victor<\/strong>, not a victim<\/strong>?
What if you knew that this very battle was a stage for you (and others) to see God throw down and defeat sin through you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if that\u2019s what God wants to do with you through this addiction? Not just to deliver you, but to build immunity in you such that in the future this thing that once kept you bound would no longer have a hold on you. That\u2019s exactly what He did for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are NOT cursed, you\u2019re being forged as a weapon that can hold up in the fire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\u270d\ud83c\udffd Journal Prompt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udcac Affirmation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Lord, thank you for reminding me that my struggle is not my identity. Help me see this season through your eyes as a place where endurance is being built, and wholeness is being formed. Teach me to count it all joy. I trust you to bring glory from this. In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"