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Lifestyle Issues

This area of the chart explores your lifestyle. I am adapting Paul Mavrogeorge’s acronym, HALT, in his discussion of this section of his chart. I am using HEALTH. Lifestyle Issues are the “push” in your life towards pornography use.

H = Hunger – Poor eating habits have a huge impact upon how a person feels. The shame and poor sense of self that comes with obesity can open the door for a person desiring to find pleasure and a sense of fulfillment in pornography.

E = Exercise – Exercise is the great cure all for depression. A lack of exercise sets a person up for feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and despair. When those feelings persist, some people seek relief in pornography use and the temporary pleasure that it brings. Exercise pumps blood through the body and into the brain that helps elevate a person’s mood. In some people, a lack of exercise leads to a sense of “down” that becomes a reason in their minds to seek pleasure through porn.

A = Anger – Some people have called depression, “anger turned inward.” Unresolved anger puts us into a cycle of despair and frustration. Some people seek relief from these feelings of unresolved anger in the temporary pleasure that pornography use gives them. Unresolved anger can trouble a person who has a poor understanding or trust in God’s forgiveness through Christ. Repentance for one’s own sins and trust in God’s forgiveness of self is the first step in addressing long-standing anger. Forgiveness of others because we know and believe that as Jesus died to forgive us, so he died to forgive others, removes the anger from our souls.

L = Loneliness – God created us to be social people. He created Eve for Adam and Adam for Eve. They had children. The world filled with people. Communities and societies and churches developed. Loneliness has many faces that share the same thought of “I am not a part of….” “I am not like anyone else….” While the use of porn makes people feel a part of an activity that seems to give pleasure, it is two dimensional and not three dimensional and has no aspects of community, communication, empathy, and love. In fact, porn use gives most people a sense of shame which feeds their loneliness. They may even say to themselves when they have opportunities to meet and be in relationships that might give them God-pleasing relief from their lonely feelings, “If you really knew me, you would not love me because I have such sinful and shameful habits that I do in secret.”

T = Tired – Fatigue caused by sleeplessness, caffeine intake, poor eating habits, a lack of exercise, and angry and anxious feelings pushes some people to seek relief in porn because they find they can sleep better in the aftermath of the pleasure and excitement of orgasm.

H = Heart – Where are you spiritually? Do you see yourself as a forgiven child of God? How often do you hear and read and study the Word of God? Do you receive comfort from the Lord’s Supper? Have you been baptized? Do you see yourself as a redeemed and saved Child of God? God is your help in every need. He has the power and the love to break the hold of sin on you. He has shown that in Jesus. Through our contact with his Word and Sacraments God the Holy Spirit strengthens and blesses us.

When a person is hungry, angry, lonely, tired, or spiritually deprived he or she is living a lifestyle that encourages addictive behavior. Good eating, sleeping, and exercise habits, as well as good social skills and a circle of friends are helpful in thwarting a negative lifestyle that sets a person up for negative behaviors. No one will find a God-pleasing cure apart from God. A friend or pastoral counselor might explore the person’s use of the Word of God and encouragement from the Christian community of believers in this section.