By RTF Staff Writer Matthew VanTryon

He sat in his room with his ear pressed to the door, listening intently for the sound of his parents closing their bedroom door. As he heard the click of their bedroom door signifying his privacy, he eagerly ventured over to his computer. Who cared that it was almost midnight on a school night and that he had final exams the next day? He just wanted his usual pleasure.

As he dove into cyberspace and filled his mind with images that seemed to never end, the minutes slowly ticked away, unbeknownst to the eager teenager. Around three hours later, his head hit the desk as he fell asleep.

We all know that pornography is an issue. So, I won’t bore you (and terrify you) with all the mind numbing statistics documenting just how sex crazed our culture has become. But here are a few I found exceptionally interesting.*

Every second, $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. That is $265,735,296 every day.

24,644,172 websites are pornographic. That is 12% of sites in the world wide web.

One in three pornography viewers are women.

These statistics tell us three things.

1) First of all, porn is cash. Hence the reason it stays alive. If it didn’t make money, it would more than likely cease to exist.

2) Porn is everywhere. These numbers don’t even include things like magazines, promiscuous billboards, etc.

3) Pornography affects everyone. Sometimes people assume that it’s “only a guy issue”. Statistics tell us otherwise.

Now that you see the pure massiveness of the industry, why is it an issue? After all, everyone is doing it. Well, the Bible is very clear about the issue of sexual immorality, which is different from other sins in that it affects our physical bodies. Christians’ bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, so when we sin sexually, we are desecrating our temple. It warps the way we think about and interact with the opposite gender. We begin to look at people as objects rather than God’s beautiful creation.

So, how do we protect ourselves? Here are three tips that should make our battle easier.

1) Confess. While it may sound cliché, the biggest key to obtaining purity is to confess when you mess up. Sin hides in the darkness, but. John 1 says that darkness cannot live in the light. So, bring your sin into the light.

2) Be accountable. It is critically important to have friends around you to hold you accountable, and to ask the tough questions. Ecclesiastes says that a person standing alone can be defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. It continues to say that three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

3) Pray. God hears the prayers of His children and will come to them. Trust in God’s strength, and remember that Jesus was tempted just like we are.

Pornography is a prevalent issue in today’s society, but it is still something we need to fight. We all mess up, despite our best intentions. Trust God’s grace and make a daily effort to follow Him in your quest for purity from pornography.

**statistics found here.

Note from the editors: There are a lot of great resources out there for teens struggling with porn or sexual addiction. It starts with a safe place. XXXChurch is awesome, as well as Dirty Girls Ministries. And check out the extremely powerful and heartfelt site Love Letters to Porn Stars.

Matthew VanTryon is a junior at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis. He loves to hang out with friends and use his various abilities to glorify God and help others. He enjoys sports, and loves to read and write about them.