Mom Seriously: Porn and Purity: Pictures in the Closet (A Message to Teen Guys)

New to Mom Seriously? Porn and Purity is an ongoing series of unique articles seeking to help parents understand this cultural issue and its impact on our familes. Read all the articles HERE.

Porn and Purity, Christian Education by Rebecca Ingram Powell

When I was a young teen, I got my first job babysitting a six-year-old boy. He wanted to play hide and seek, so he ran to hide while I counted. His hiding place turned out to be the walk-in closet of his mom and dad’s bedroom. I found him there, crouching beside his dad’s shoes, underneath a poster of a nude woman.

Of course, I quickly got him out of the closet, gently asked him not to hide there again, and we resumed our game. Today, remembering that story, I wonder what it was like for that little boy to grow up thinking pornography was normal. Since his daddy tacked pictures of naked women on the wall of his closet, this child grew up thinking that's what all daddies--and therefore, all men--did. I wonder how the little boy’s mom could walk by that poster day after day as she went to get her own clothes out of the closet. Why didn’t she rip it down? Unless, when she was growing up, her daddy did the same thing, and she thought that was what all daddies did.

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(But all daddies don't do that. And all daddies don't have to do that. All daddies were once like you: young men with choices to make.)

The thing about having a picture hidden in a closet is that God still sees it. The same is true with our minds. We can have thoughts and images taped up in the walls of our minds and think that they are there for our own viewing pleasure--that no one else can see them. But Someone can. He sees everything, and He charges us to keep our thoughts on things above. How do you do that?

Avoid things that cause your mind to think on things below. That requires some self-study and self-examination. Ask God to show you where you’re weak. He will. He wants you to control your thoughts and keep them pure. He’s in this with you.

Have a plan of replacement thoughts. The Bible says to flee when you are tempted. If the tempting thoughts are in your mind, you need some better thoughts to which you can flee. Try these:

Praying for other people. Keep a list of lost friends or family members in your mind and pray for them when you try to redirect your thoughts.
Praising God for His many holy characteristics. His faithfulness, goodness, mercy, and grace are worthy of our thoughts and our praise.
Organizing a service project. Is there a ministry you could be involved in that would fill up your time and therefore your thoughts?
Memorizing Scripture. God’s Word will take your mind and quickly set it back on things above.

Purity isn’t a line you draw in the sand. It’s a life you live between your ears! Guard your thought closet, and it will pay off in every other area of your life.*