Lust is like a bomb. It can and will destroy your life along with the ones you love. Pornography is the great destroyer of relationships and marriages, and can cause depression, emasculation, anger, rage, guilt, and regret, among other things, for those who engage in it. In this article, we will discuss ten ways to attack and fight this addiction in your life.

Principle #1: Admit the problem

This is the first step to conquering it. If you cannot admit you have a problem, then how can you deal with the problem? Pretending it’s not a problem doesn’t make it go away or help you to overcome.

Principle #2: Why are you a slave?

Step two is: consider what a slave you are to sin. Take time to sit down and consider how long you’ve been a slave to this sin? How long has it been an addiction in your life?

Reflect hard on how you have no power over this curse, it, and how no matter how many times you try, you just can’t seem to break free. That should completely frustrate you. That you are a slave and a captive to this sin, and that it has control over you, should make you angry. It should cause you to hate this sin.

Principle #3: Hate being a slave!

Hate the sin with all your being. You need to come to a place where you literally are just sick and tired of having this poison in your life. You should want to do anything and everything,  To eject it and root it up from your life. The problem is that a lot of times we like the sin. We may hate being slaves to sin, but at the same time, we like the  pleasure it brings, and the comfort. We fear losing this sin completely from our lives.

Like we need to hang onto this sin like a security blanket. Maybe you want to masturbate or maybe you want to look at porn, maybe you want to do something like that. But the bottom line is that we need to hate sin. We need to overcome it so much so that we don’t want it in our life anymore. And once you reach that step that you’re going to do anything to get rid of it, now we can move on to where real work begins.

Principle #4: Remove all occasions of sin!

The next step is to remove anything and everything that causes you to sin or to fall again. Reject and remove from your life anything that, causes you to regress, or to go backwards. Many times, we keep the problems in our life and do not remove them, which is why we keep falling into their power.

There are certain triggers, situations, and times when we are weaker and we fall into these patterns, or we fall back into these habits even if we’ve broken away for a week or two or three. It’s good to get rid of these in our lives and to recognize what those triggers are.

For example, if you’re serious about this, you must remove all pornography from your possession. Throw away all the magazines, the paraphernalia, or anything else. Burn it if you need to. If the problem is on your computer or your phone, delete it. All of it. Don’t even save one picture or wallpaper. Delete it all and put up popup blockers. Download apps that will protect you against this sin and prevent you from finding problematic materials.

In its place, put up pictures and wallpapers on your phone, or on your computer, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, or your daughter or something else that is true, good, and beautiful. I mean, think about your daughter. Would you want someone looking at your daughter like this?

Removing the problem is 75% of the battle.

Ther is a group called Covenant Eyes; that you can sign up for online. You give them specific permission to access your phone so that anytime you go onto sites like that, they’ll know, and they’ll call you up and say, “Hey brother, are you okay? What’s going on in your life? Let’s talk about it. Why are you going down that road?” Or ”Hey sister, you’re struggling with this again. I can see you’re going back to that site that you were struggling with.”

Principle #5: Practice Examinations of Conscience (a must!)

This leads us to our next step, and it’s one of my favorite steps to breaking an addiction or overcoming vice in your life.

Every night before you go to bed, reflect on your day. Start by thanking God for all the good things he’s done in your life. Thank him for as many things as you can think about, and build yourself up the fact that you did those good things by His grace and realize that God is proud of you, and see him looking down on you with a smile for doing those good things.

When we’re struggling with porn or addictions, a lot of times we get too negative, and too down on ourselves. What we need to do is see that it’s not all bad and see that we also do good and have a good balance of good and bad looking at what we did right and what we did wrong.

Did you look at porn and why? Why did you do it? Did you do it because something tempted you and you couldn’t overcome it? Or did you go out of your way to look for it because you had a lousy day?

What is the reason? Discerning and reflecting and meditating on why you do what you do and the situations that lead to it will absolutely help you to break it 100%. So, for example. If you look at porn and you say, okay, it was for this reason, and then two days later you’re doing another examination, you’re saying, oh, it’s the same reason and the same reason.

Then, all of a sudden, you’re recognizing triggers in your life and things that lead you back to that. In other words, what led you to struggle with the lust? Is there a pattern? Did you do it at night or was it always at the same time during the day? The more deeply you can meditate on these things, and the more you can discover the triggers and the reasons for this addiction, the more you will root it up from your life.

Most times, most people just grasp half-heartedly at leaves. They pull the leaves off the tree, but they never break off the whole branch, and they never uproot the tree. What is the root? Why do you fall into this sin? What causes it? Is it insecurity? Fear? Depression?

Pleasure? Sloth? Find those root causes, and you’ll begin to overcome the problem much more easily.

Principle #6: Visualization practices

The next step is a continuation of the previous one. We must look at our thinking and action patterns in greater detail. Every time you fall, you must reflect on it. Take quiet time away from everything to visualize the sin happening again just the same way it took place earlier.

Relive the scenario in great and vivid detail. What led you to go down that road? What put you over the edge? Why did I let myself be weak? After you complete that exercise for a while, then go back and visualize the exact same circumstance again. This time, picture doing it correctly in your mind. Imagine making the right choices and being stronger. Then, apply that to a future fall.

Reflect on a possible upcoming fall and consider how you will do it right. How will you react differently? What will you say no to and how? Feel empowered as you make the good and noble decision to what is right. That is the most important key to all of this . Thinking about what causes it, why you make these decisions, and how you can overcome it.

But if I did the same thing tomorrow and I was faced with the exact same circumstance, how would I react differently? What would I do differently? Same thing with your children. Let’s say you lose your temper with your children all the time. You’re an impatient person, but why are you an impatient person?

The next step is to study and read. Take time to research ways to help you to stay one step ahead, to find help and inspiration, and to overcome this in your life. For example, there is a book called, The Porn Myth, by Matt Fradd. He has many good, inspirational resources on how to overcome pornography and live more purely.

It shows, scientifically, how pornography rewires your brain and prevents you from truly loving another person, and even from loving yourself.  So, find good resources, and fill your mind with positive and productive information.

Principle #7: Go to Confession

Everyone needs to have their sins forgiven. Everyone needs to be spiritually cleansed. The more you go to confession the better. Be honest, with humility, about your sins with God. Bow before him and say, God, I need you and beg for the graces constantly to overcome this sin.

You need the sacraments, the Eucharist, confession, and to give yourself humbly to God.

Principle #8: Don’t beat yourself up

Be patient with yourself. You are not going to overcome this addiction overnight.

Pornography is like a drug addiction. It isa strong addiction, which is hard to break. Therefore, you cannot expect yourself to break it overnight.

If you think you’re just going to be perfect and not fall, then that leads to depression every time you fall. It leads to guilt. A more realistic approach is to take a slow step by step process and measure it not by perfection but by your own progress.

I’ve written many articles for Catholic Match in the Catholic Match Institute, and I hit a lot of the hard topics, and I’ve had hundreds of comments that are men justifying their porn, their sin, and their selfishness.

However, there are men and women who struggle with this too nowadays, who don’t like the sin. They feel guilty about it. They wish it didn’t have a hold over their life, and they struggle to overcome it.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but never stop going to war on this sin, and never give up hope. Always have a right understanding, and not the constant guilt trip of the devil.

God loves you whether you are a sinner or not. He loves you whether you are going through it or not. If you are constantly struggling against it, God is pleased with that progress.

Principle #9: Don’t give into guilt!

We often think we must be perfect to approach God. We think that when we do well enough, then he will be pleased. However, God is not sitting at the end of the finish line waiting for you to get it all right. Rather, He is sitting in the mud with you; in the fire with you. He is sitting there with us, right by our side and that’s beautiful.

Every time you fall, you give this sin to God and say: God, I need your help. God, can you please be here for me? If you really give everything to God and walk hand in hand with him, He will be there with you. You will overcome this addiction in your life more quickly, you will be free from it, as so many people have been before you.

Don’t buy the lies of the devil that you’re not good enough, you’re not holy enough, that you’re too sinful,  or too bad. Those are lies. You are good and God made you good. God loves you and He’s all powerful.

Principle #10: Learn more and grow

Read books on the subject. Listen to inspiring podcasts. Replace the “don’ts” with things you can do that are positive and affirming. Hang out with good people. Don’t spend all your time alone! Get an accountability partner. Download “Covenant Eyes” Download screensavers for your phone and computer of Jesus and Mary.

Watch motivations videos. Watch testimonies of others who struggle, who are still working on it, and those who have overcome it. Have even a couple good Catholic friends. Join Catholic groups. Cultivate a deep prayer life, for only a deep prayer life will give you the strength you need to break this mighty addiction and overcome it!!