Healing

Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?... If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed. -Alma 15:6,8-

When we think of healing, we usually think about our bodies. What else about you might require the healing power of Jesus Christ?

My thoughts need healing. There are a lot of corrupt memories stored up there. Sadly, they are not going to just go away. They are things that will slowly fade over time, but the healing power of Christ can help them to fade more quickly, so I can get on with my life.

My triggers need healed. Some of them are expected, but there are some triggers that would not normally be associated with pornography, but are. One in particular is an idiomatic phrase, which my wife uses in everyday conversation. Sometimes, when she uses it, it spawns memories of a stupid flash game I played once. That is one of many associations I hope Christ can help me heal.

My marriage. This addition has shattered my wife's trust in me, which goes a long way to shatter our marriage. I hope that the balm of Christ's Atonement can go a long way to heal that. I do think that as long as we don't give up, time will heal too, but the Atonement can help things heal more quickly.

Write about your need to draw on the redeeming (liberating, transforming) power of Christ.

It is only through Christ that I can fully put this behind me. In fact, it has been with me so long, that it is hard to imagine life without it. What would it be like to not have this craving? I cannot imagine. Some people might try to tell me that it is natural for a man to have such "needs." They might be right. There are lots of other natural things. Things we do, unless we are taught otherwise. For example, I have a son who is yet to be potty trained. That means, he pees and poos in his diaper wherever and whenever he feels the urge. Is this a good long-term strategy? Not hardly, but it is natural. Just because it is natural does not make it the best course of action.

On the other hand, whether it is "natural" or not, it doesn't have to be. A friend of mine was teaching a Sunday School lesson about a month ago and brought up pornography. For him, he had seen one picture in a magazine, when he was twelve years old. It was on accident, at a friend's house. Since then, he has had no desire to seek out more. That is how I want to be. I want to have the change of heart, so that I have no more desire to view it. I want to have no more desire toward lustful thoughts. At this point, it seems like a pipe dream, but through Christ, it is achievable. It will take a lot of hard work in the meantime, but it is possible.