Christians who have turned their backs from porn are often faced with one problem they find hard to solve: remembering. They can be haunted by images they long to forget. The good news is, there really is a way to “delete” those unwanted deposits from your brain.
Although porn is a moral problem, it is also a physiological problem. When you keep feeding your brain with porn, the neurological “circuits” the brain uses during the activity become stronger. Over time, it forms some kind of pattern in the memory.
“Whenever the sequence of arousal and response is activated, it forms a neurological memory that will influence future processing and response to sexual cues. As this pathway becomes activated and traveled, it becomes a preferred route—a mental journey—that is regularly trod. The consequences of this are far-reaching,” explained William M. Struthers, associate professor of Psychology at Wheaton College.
In other words, the more you indulge in porn, the more you get hooked. According to a study, watching porn repeatedly alters a person’s brain in much the same way drugs and alcohol do. This could lead into bondage.
Porn can have devastating effects in a person’s marriage and family. Individuals who are addicted to it can become less interested in their spouse and in building good family relations, said Family Research Council. It can also lead to infidelity and divorce.
Authors Judah Pollack and Olivia Fox Cabane wrote in an online article that the synaptic connections — or “connections that neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and others travel across” — are being “pruned” by microglial cells.
"'Glial cells' are the gardeners of your brain — they act to speed up signals between certain neurons. But other glial cells are the waste removers, pulling up weeds, killing pests, raking up dead leaves. Your brain’s pruning gardeners are called 'microglial cells,'" they said.
Proteins mark synaptic connections are not used often, and when microglial cells detect the mark, “they bond to the protein and destroy—or prune—the synapse. This is how your brain makes the physical space for you to build new and stronger connections.” The process happens while we sleep.
The authors added that synaptic connections that are being used are the ones that get strengthened.
"So be mindful of what you're thinking about," they said.
Repenting of the sin is the first step to freedom. The Bible commands believers to “not conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2) – this is very instrumental in breaking free from the pornographic trash in the brain.
It is important to fill the mind with God’s Word daily. Meditating on the teachings of the Bible regularly helps to push out porn from the mind. And as you keep starving your mind from porn, eventually the brain will rid itself of unwanted thoughts.
