 |
| Click on the button to see all my Porn and Purity articles! |
ABC’s Extreme Makeover Show was in Nashville last week, rebuilding the Lighthouse Christian Preschool, which was destroyed in the Historic Flood back in May. I love a good rescue, don’t you? I love it when people can pitch in on a work of God’s amazing grace, take something that looks like it has no hope, and restore, renew, refinish, rebuild, yes, rescue what was perishing, forgotten, and beyond repair. And to think the Lord does that with hearts and lives! WOW!
Remember Troy Perry, whom you met a few weeks ago in the post entitled, Porn, The Secret Cancer? Well, Troy went from a porn addict to a redeemed life. He was so committed to serving the Lord with purity that he made a decision to save all his future kisses for the bride he believed God would bring him one day. Take a look at the second part of my interview with Troy.
Mom Seriously (MS): How did you go from being an Internet porn addict to saving your kiss?
Troy Perry (TP): One day I finally said, "I quit. I’m done," and I just completely surrendered to the Lord. And then, I hit one of those Paul stages [the apostle Paul], and I told God, "I don’t even want to get married." I would meet great Christian girls and be tempted to date, but I was trying to avoid situations of being alone with a girl because I knew I was weak. I read I Kissed Dating Goodbye
right after I read Every Man's Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time (The Every Man Series)
. I had not completely bought into the idea of not dating, but at the same time, I knew if I did date, it would eventually get physical. That was how it had always been in my life. |
| Troy and Sara Perry |
TP: Then I met Sara. I knew I had to avoid anything physical. I had figured out that everything physical starts with a kiss, so on our first date, I told her my story. I laid everything on the line. I wanted her to know what I struggled with, so that if she cared about me, she could help me. I said, “I want to go ahead and tell you on the front end: Know this, if you decide you want to date me, I do not want to kiss you until we get married. Whether it is two years, and we call it quits, or whatever. I do not want to kiss you because I don’t trust myself.”
MS: And I know that at the time, Sara had been doing a lot of reading and a lot of growing in her own relationship with the Lord. So tell me, how did she respond?
TP: She said, “Good—that’s what I want too!” It was great!
MS: And you did wait until you were married to share your first kiss! Troy, I remember Sara telling me that during the summer you were dating, you often talked late into the night at her parents’ house, with her sitting inside and you sitting outside and a sliding glass/screen door between you! I thought that was so sweet, and I realize you did that to be safe--to keep temptation at bay. What else did you do to help each other?
TP: Once we started dating, Sara became even more aware of how she and her friends dressed. She had always been a modest girl, but once she got to know me, she really understood how the way girls dress and what they choose to reveal affects a guy. I think moms and sisters need to be careful of how they dress even within their homes. Our society as a whole doesn’t help us guys out with that, but in our homes, well, that needs to be a safe place.
MS: Often, though, Troy, moms have trouble with the way they dress. They are not exactly setting a great example for their girls.
TP: I've met moms who actually push their girls to dress like that. They think it will bring them popularity.
MS: Troy, we've got some resources for moms and girls here at MomSeriously, including The Modesty CD, which is the audio of a talk I did for over 300 6th-9th grade girls at a conference a few years ago, and Get Real! Embrace the Reality of Ruth. I think that in many cases, moms don't even realize how a guy thinks, and girls definitely don't understand. Can you shed some light on this?
TP: We start shopping with our eyes and it goes from there. Everytime we look, we store an image in our minds. A guy can take out that image and look at it anytime he wants too.
MS: And what I've told girls is that we don't even have to be talking about guys her age. Whether he's 16 or 60, if she's dressed in revealing clothing, he's not looking at her thinking, "She's cute." He's thinking something else.
TP: He lusts. He starts feeding this beast that will eventually have to give birth to something.
MS: Troy, thanks for talking with me today. Readers, do you have a question for Troy? He will be checking my author page on Facebook throughout the day, so if you have something you would like to ask about pornography addiction, please drop by my page and leave your question there for him! You can count on Troy to shoot straight and give you the best answer he possibly can!
Remember: A great Bible study for your coming-of-age son is Dig Deep: Unearthing the Treasures of Solomon's Proverbs.
Read Porn, The Secret Cancer, Part One of my interview with Troy Perry. You may contact Troy through his Facebook page.
Don't miss any great parenting info: Subscribe to my daily email newsletter! Click HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment