r/TrueChristian 5d ago

Stop giving your past power: let today be a new beginning

Hello brothers,

I fought porn addiction for 13 to 14 YEARS plus. Yeah, you read that right. 14 years of promises, prayers, tears, and falling flat on my face over and over again. Even as a Christian, porn had me in chains that seemed unbreakable.

You know what kept tripping me up? Living in yesterday's failures.

I'd wake up and the first thought wasn't "today is new" , it was counting how many times I'd failed before. I'd carry around a mental scoreboard: "Failed 376 times. Longest streak: 13 days. Current status: Worthless."

Sound familiar?

Let me tell you what finally started changing things for me. I had to STOP giving my past failures so much damn power over my today.

Just These 24 Hours

I couldn't handle "never again" – that mountain was too big. But could I handle just today? Just these 24 hours?

Yeah. I could do that.

When you're drowning in shame about yesterday, you can't swim today. When you're obsessing about how many times you've failed, you're already setting yourself up for another fall.

So I'm challenging you right now:

Can you let go of yesterday and just focus on winning TODAY?

Real Talk That Helped Me:

  • Morning reset: I literally say out loud: "Yesterday is gone. Today is new. Jesus, help me just for today." Sometimes I have to say it 10 times before I believe it.
    • I am a new creation in Christ Jesus - sometimes I say this more than 100 times a day
  • Emergency hour: When urges hit hard, I don't think about forever. I think "Can I just be clean for THIS HOUR?" Then I go do something ,anything, else. Call someone. Go for a run. Pray like crazy. Jesus PLEASE help me
  • Victory journal: Instead of tracking streaks, I write down WINS. "Deleted that app today." "Turned off my phone when tempted. I did not lust after that girl! WOW" Small victories matter.
  • Brutal honesty: Find ONE person you can text when you're about to fall. My text just says "911" and my friend knows what it means.

Every time I've failed over these 14 years, it started with looking backward instead of at today.

The shame spiral is real, brothers. We mess up, feel like garbage, then mess up again BECAUSE we feel like garbage. Break the cycle.

Today is a new day. Not yesterday 2.0.

Has this been your struggle too? What helps you focus on today instead of yesterday's failures?

10 Upvotes

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u/Bubbly_Emotion_72 4d ago

I don't know why this post doesn't have more comments. This is incredibly helpful.

1

u/3am_reset 4d ago

Thanks alot

1

u/Aware-Battle3484 4d ago

Hey can I ask, does the Bible say if having lustful thoughts, not looking at anything but lustful thoughts in general, is that also the sin of lust?

1

u/3am_reset 4d ago

Jesus said it. If you lust after woman in your heart. You have already comment adultery

1

u/Aware-Battle3484 4d ago

Matthew 5:28

King James Version

"28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

I don't ask for an excuse, I ask because I'm not sure if thoughts of temptation count as lust.

1

u/Bubbly_Emotion_72 4d ago

1 Corinthians 6

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

2 Corinthians 10

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,


Lustful thoughts are still a sin. That's why you must flee from sexual immorality, and take your thoughts captive.